Boston, Massachusetts & New Orleans, LA – Community Care Cooperative (C3), the Accountable Care Organization (ACO) created and governed by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in Massachusetts, announced today that it was awarded an ACO REACH contract from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). ACO REACH is a new value-based care model that is aligned with C3’s commitment to advancing health equity, moderating costs, and improving outcomes for members. C3 currently operates as a Medicaid ACO in Massachusetts on behalf of 23 FQHCs – and believes ACO REACH is an opportunity for the seven FQHCs under the Medicare contract to bring its highly effective model of care to a broader patient population. C3 is just one of 110 accepted applicants in the country for this model.
With today’s news, C3 is also announcing that it has grown nationally and will work with its first FQHC outside of Massachusetts as part of the ACO REACH contract. Access Health Louisiana (AHL) is a FQHC with 32 clinics and school-based health centers located throughout communities in Southeast Louisiana, serving over 47,000 patients annually. With the addition of AHL to its network for ACO REACH, C3 expects to serve over 1,400 Medicare patients in Louisiana and 10,000 Medicare patients in Massachusetts through the program.
C3 unites FQHCs at scale to strengthen primary care, improve financial performance, and advance racial justice. C3 provides FQHCs with the tools and services needed to remain competitive in the ever-changing market landscape of value-based care – including value-based contracting, practice transformation, analytics, population health programs, quality and risk adjustment expertise and services. Federally Qualified Health Centers are an integral part of the health care system, and particularly its safety net. FQHCs have been shown to deliver high quality, patient centered care that reduces total medical expenditures, and C3’s goal is to facilitate their success in the new value-based health care landscape.
“We see ACO REACH as a tremendous opportunity to offer our model of care to Medicare beneficiaries who are disproportionately members of under-resourced and low-income communities and also members of the BIPOC community – and build on the incredible successes we have had in the Massachusetts Medicaid ACO program,” said Christina Severin, CEO of C3. “We applaud CMMI for launching a model that centers health equity and enables FQHCs to meaningfully participate in upside and downside financial risk with Medicare.”
“Our organization is proud to be the first FQHC in Louisiana to be a part of Community Care Cooperative. Like C3, we are committed to advancing health equity and reducing racial and social disparities which contribute to the imbalance of quality health access in our nation. We hope that through our work and partnership, we can further the priorities of the Biden-Harris Administration and enhance patient care coordination through the REACH Model,” said Mark Keiser, President and CEO of Access Health Louisiana.
Community Care Cooperative (C3) the non-profit organization created and governed by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to transform the health and wellness of under-resourced communities, announced today that they have renewed their contract with the Massachusetts’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) to participate in the MassHealth Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Program. This new contract will begin on April 1, 2023 and extend through 2027.
The organization responded in July to the Commonwealth’s request for response that was released on April 14, 2022 and were notified of their award on November 2, 2022. C3’s response included innovative initiatives and practices in value based care, behavioral health and perinatal care for its anticipated 213,000 Medicaid Enrollees. “Our organization is thrilled to continue our relationship with the Commonwealth and EOHHS,” said Christina Severin, President and CEO of C3. “We are committed to serving our health centers and assisting them in continuing to provide high quality of care to their patients and communities.”
The FQHC-based organization also announces the addition of five new community health centers, bringing their membership total to 22 FQHCs and one affiliated practice. The new health centers include Caring Health Center, Duffy Health Center, Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, Greater New Bedford Community Health Center, and Outer Cape Health Services. They join 17 other FQHCs across the state, 8 of whom founded the organization in 2016 in response to EOHHS’s new ACO program. “We are proud to join an organization with health centers and our patients at the core of its mission.”, said Dr. Guy Fish, President and CEO of Greater Lawrence Family Health Center. “C3’s record showcases proven success both operationally and financially, and as an incoming Board member, I look forward to seeing their accomplishments over the next five years.”
In its first five-year contract, C3 excelled in their performance as the only FQHC-owned ACO in the state, and the largest in the country. This included significant shared savings that was distributed back to the member health centers as well as high performance in the areas of quality and care management. In the next five years, C3 will continue this work as well as focus on primary care capitation and value-based care for its Enrollees. “This new contract, with its innovative value-based payment model, allows us to continue improving on the outcomes and the experience of patients as they access care, and to place equity at the center of our work,” said Dr. Kiame Mahaniah, CEO of Lynn Community Health Center and C3’s Board Chair.
In addition to this renewed contract, C3 and its subsidiary, Community Technology Cooperative, recently announced the completion of a major transition to the Epic Electronic Health Record system at ten health centers across Massachusetts. The new system will support the collection of over 1.5 million clinical visits per year including vital behavioral health, dental and eye care, and essential social services linking patients and community members to health insurance, housing, food, and other supports.
Community Care Cooperative (C3) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization created and governed by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to transform the health and wellness of the people they serve. Formed in 2016 as a MassHealth Accountable Care Organization (ACO) that leverages the proven best practices of ACOs throughout the country, C3 is the only ACO in Massachusetts founded and governed by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and exclusively focused on advancing integrated and coordinated community-based care. Since its inception, C3 has expanded its services and grown nationally as leader and advocate for community health centers. To view a list of current C3 health centers, click here.
