VMFH and Optum Washington Launch Strategic Alignment

July 10, 2023

Unified by a shared vision for patient care and improving access to value-based care options, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health (VMFH) and Optum Washington, have announced a significant strategic alignment that will improve the quality, experience and cost of care for patients across the Puget Sound region. As part of this strategic alliance, physicians and clinical leaders at VMFH and Optum will work collaboratively to coordinate care for patients of Optum, beginning with The Polyclinic, which is part of Optum Washington, as well as 25,000 of VMFH’s managed-care lives.

“As a national leader in quality and delivering value-based care, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health is pleased to partner with Optum Washington. Together, we are committed to a common approach to delivering care across the full continuum. We deeply value the importance of coordination to ensure clinical excellence and continuity for the patients we serve,” said Ketul J. Patel, chief executive officer of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and division president, Pacific Northwest, CommonSpirit Health. “As a result of our work together, we aim to bend the healthcare total cost curve, generate outcome improvements, and improve value to the healthcare system – partnering to achieve the quadruple aim, then scaling our differentiated model to serve a growing number of communities.”

In the initial stages of the partnership, Optum Washington, and its largest provider group in Seattle, The Polyclinic (TPC), intends to designate Virginia Mason Medical Center (VMMC) in Seattle as the preferred facility for Polyclinic patients who require inpatient care, surgery, or other hospital-based ambulatory services. As a provider of outpatient services, Optum Washington, and The Polyclinic, have an outstanding record for achieving excellent patient care outcomes. To ensure these standards are maintained when a patient requires hospital-based care, Polyclinic patients will now be referred to VMMC. Multi-disciplinary teams will begin working collaboratively to safely integrate the additional patients into our system and to ensure a seamless transition of care.

The second phase further demonstrates our collaboration across all VMFH and Optum sites to provide in-network continuity and co-management of 25,000 Medicare Advantage patients, where VMFH will be able to leverage Optum’s national expertise in managing performance-based care plans, which prioritize improved patient outcomes and cost reduction by incentivizing providers based on the quality of care delivered. Optum’s powerful analytics and data infrastructure will assist clinical teams in analyzing and interpreting health data more efficiently.

This alignment of our organizations brings decades of clinical expertise together for the betterment of our patients and the communities we serve by expanding access, optimizing care management and utilization appropriateness, and improving the total cost of care.