Cerner, a global leader in health care technology, and Lumeris, an award-winning health plan and value-based care managed services operator, today announced a 10-year relationship aimed at eliminating inefficiencies in the current health care system. Under the relationship, the parties will launch a new offering, Maestro Advantage, for value-based arrangements, including Medicare Advantage (MA) and provider-sponsored health plans (PSHPs). It combines Cerner and Lumeris technology and services to streamline redundant processes that burden the patient and provider, including lengthy claims processing and reimbursement cycles, and obstacles to sharing data and records. Maestro Advantage is designed to help health systems succeed with MA, and other value-based arrangements by improving the quality of outcomes and physician-patient encounters.
“The United States health care system’s transition to value-based care has been impeded by disjointed technology, cumbersome processes, misaligned incentives and inadequate management of clinical and financial outcomes,” said John Doerr, Lumeris board member and chairman of Kleiner Perkins. “Maestro Advantage lowers the barriers to data transparency and sharing and empowers physicians and health systems. However, we know technology alone is not sufficient. Maestro Advantage is an innovative model with supporting processes and expertise to aid long-term success in value-based care arrangements. The combination of Cerner’s and Lumeris’ core competencies through Maestro Advantage is disruptive. Maestro Advantage is designed for patients to receive enhanced access to primary care and a level of service that was previously only delivered via expensive concierge medicine programs. Better outcomes and higher patient and provider satisfaction will provide our country with the health care system we deserve.”
“For decades, Cerner has focused on creating technology that improves how people receive and provide care,” said Brent Shafer, chairman and CEO, Cerner. “By using data to reduce or eliminate unnecessary costs and ineffective transitions of care, providing doctors and their patients a more complete view of their medical history and a health plan that consistently receives high quality scores from CMS, this collaboration with Lumeris aligns well with our mission and illustrates the potential of Cerner technology to positively impact health care economics and outcomes in deeper, more impactful ways than before.”
Maestro Advantage uniquely integrates actionable data and insights with provider workflows, leveraging existing investment in digitized data and processes. Maestro Advantage is designed so providers can more effectively assess risk and create interventions and better maximize outcomes for patients enrolled in value-based arrangements, such as PSHPs and MA plans. Maestro Advantage will manage health systems’ increasingly complex mix of owned- and affiliated-provider relationships across any EHR in the network.
“Our collaboration with Cerner holds incredible promise at a time when it is urgent we fix our health care delivery system. Maestro Advantage creates a patient-centric health care delivery network. Prevention and wellness become the top priority rather than treatment and ‘sick care,’” said Mike Long, chairman and CEO, Lumeris. “Physicians and care teams will get access to timely data and easy-to-use, actionable insights at the point of care. Combined with a proven, value-based accountable primary care model, physicians can truly advocate for their patients, ensuring they receive better care and are more satisfied on their health care journey.”
As part of the relationship, Lumeris will adopt Cerner’s HealtheIntentSM platform and combine its clinical methodology and advanced analytics to help drive better patient outcomes and lower costs of care. Cerner and Lumeris will identify health systems best positioned to succeed with the offering, particularly large organizations pursuing multi-year growth strategies. Initial deployments of Maestro Advantage are expected to begin in the second half of 2018 with broad market implementations in 2019. An executive steering committee of members from Lumeris and Cerner leadership will provide oversight and governance of the strategy, business development, client delivery and continuous innovation of Maestro Advantage.
The strategic relationship includes a Cerner investment in Lumeris’ parent company, Essence Group Holdings Corporation, to accelerate the enterprise’s outreach to leading health systems transitioning to value-based care. The closing of the strategic relationship and investment are subject to customary conditions, including among others, the expiration or termination of all applicable waiting periods (and extensions thereof) under the Hart-Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.
