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October 25, 2011 at 10:55 AM
BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners L.P. is investing millions of dollars that could supply the systems and services doctors and hospitals need to work more closely together.
BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners, a fund managed by Sandbox Industries, Chicago, is putting the money in Essence Group Holdings Corp., St. Louis.
Essence is the parent of Lumeris Corp., the accountable care organization (ACO) software and services company that sells the Maestro health care management system.
An ACO is supposed to be a vehicle for helping doctors and hospitals work together to share the risks and rewards for caring for a patient as a whole patient, rather than getting paid one service at a home.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) gave the ACO movement a boost by requiring the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to try the ACO approach. CMS is now setting up two ACO test programs.
