Northwest Healthcare and UnitedHealthcare Renew Network Relationship
5/8/2017
Tucson, AZ (May 6, 2017) — Northwest Healthcare and UnitedHealthcare today announced they have reached a new, three-year agreement that will keep all Northwest Healthcare facilities, urgent care locations, and physicians in UnitedHealthcare’s network. The new agreement is effective immediately; ensuring patients enrolled in a UnitedHealthcare plan do not experience any interruption in their coverage for healthcare services received at Northwest Healthcare. The agreement is retroactive to May 1, 2017, so patients who received care at Northwest during this out-of-network period will be processed as in-network.
Health plan members enrolled in UnitedHealthcare individual, employer-sponsored (commercial), Medicare Advantage and AHCCCS Managed Medicaid health plans will have continued in-network access to Northwest Medical Center, Oro Valley Hospital, Northwest Allied Physicians, Desert Cardiology, Heart Center of Southern Arizona, Northwest Heart & Vascular, Northwest Urgent Care, Northwest Tucson Surgery Center, Tucson Surgery Center, Center for Pain Management, and other locations.
“Thank you to our patients for their support as we reached an agreement to preserve their access to Northwest Healthcare. We value our relationship with UnitedHealthcare and are grateful for their efforts to reach an agreement,” said Kevin Stockton, Market CEO of Northwest Healthcare. “Our objective with this agreement was to ensure patients can access healthcare services when and where they need them. We also worked to help keep their out-of-pocket costs down. That’s important to both Northwest Healthcare and UnitedHealthcare, and we believe it’s important to our patients. This agreement achieved those objectives. Our community is the real beneficiary because the agreement ensures they continue to have the freedom to choose their provider without any further disruption.”
“I want to thank all of our plan members and customers in Tucson for their patience throughout this process. We appreciate the commitment Northwest Healthcare has made to value-based health care and look forward to working with them to ensure our members receive high quality care as a result of this agreement,” said Dave Allazetta, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of Arizona. “We understand that these last few weeks have been difficult for people in northwest Tucson who rely on the Northwest system for their medical needs. We are honored to continue supporting these members and the more than two million people across Arizona who depend on us for access to quality, cost-effective health care.”
The new contract is focused on value-based performance and quality of care, similar to Northwest Healthcare’s contracts with other large health insurers in the area. Together, Northwest Healthcare and UnitedHealthcare are committed to enhancing quality and value in healthcare for Southern Arizona.
About Northwest Healthcare
Northwest Healthcare is an integrated healthcare provider committed to delivering Tucson and surrounding communities with high quality, accessible healthcare. Northwest Healthcare includes Northwest Medical Center, Oro Valley Hospital, Northwest Emergency Center, nine Northwest Urgent Care locations, The Women’s Center at Northwest, Northwest Allied Physicians, Desert Cardiology, The Heart Center of Southern Arizona, Northwest Heart & Vascular, Northwest Tucson Surgery Center, Tucson Surgery Center and Center for Pain Management. Northwest Healthcare is making healthcare more convenient online check-in for ER and Urgent Care at HealthierTucson.com. Patients may also use online scheduling for Northwest Allied Physician primary care providers by visiting MyTucsonDoc.com. To learn more, visit HealthierTucson.com.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health benefit programs for individuals, employers, military service members, retirees and their families, and Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 1 million physicians and care professionals, and 6,000 hospitals and other care facilities nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company. For more information, visit UnitedHealthcare at www.uhc.com or follow @myUHC on Twitter.
Back