DURHAM – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina will invest in a joint venture with investment management firm Deerfield Management Company to provide services for physicians, particularly independent physicians, the organization shared in a statement.
“We’re still working on the name,” said Kyle Marshall, a spokesperson for Blue Cross NC shared with WRAL TechWire. “We’re just getting started.”
The purpose of the joint venture is “to enable physicians to focus more on high-quality, cost-effective patient care while also offering practices the ability to grow more sustainably as value-based care expands,” according to the statement. “This joint venture will offer a number of different services to help physicians to manage their business, and focus on opportunities for growth,” said Marshall.
“Independent physicians in North Carolina have an especially difficult burden when it comes to managing their practices without the resources and scale that come with being part of a larger organization,” said Dr. Tunde Sotunde, Blue Cross NC president and CEO, in the statement. “We want to empower independent physicians – especially primary care – by offering a new level of support to help them lead their practices in a time of great change in health care.
According to the company, the joint venture will provide infrastructure and support services, integrated technology solutions, data sharing, and flexible options to structure the management of a physician’s practice.
“We’re investing in a joint venture, the whole idea is to support independent physicians in North Carolina,” spokesperson “enable independent physicians to focus on high-quality, effective care, and we want to make sure physician practices are able to administer the work that needs to be done.”
“Deerfield shares the same goals that we do,” said Marshall. “Making health care more affordable, and supporting independent physician practices.”
“Independent physicians typically have hundreds, if not thousands, of patients to care for, and they have a business to run,” said Dr. Von Nguyen, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Blue Cross NC in a statement. “If we provide additional support to help them meet these demands, we can have a positive impact on health outcomes while doing more to address rising health care costs.”
Blue Cross NC stated that the partnership would use assets of Deerfield Management, specifically the Deerfield Institute and its external operations team, due to prior relationships in health care across North Carolina. Both firms will invest financial resources into the joint venture, though the company declined to comment on terms.
“We’re going to be building out a management team,” said Marshall. “It’s in process, now.”
