Health Center Partners Appoints Healthcare Industry Veteran, Victoria Abrams, as Executive Vice President for Integrated Health Partners

PR Newswire

SAN DIEGO, July 9, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Center Partners of Southern California, a premier consortium of primary care organizations, today announced the appointment of Victoria Abrams to the role of executive vice president for its subsidiary, Integrated Health Partners (IHP). IHP is the leading clinically integrated primary care network in San Diego and Riverside Counties, comprising 10 community health centers representing more than 750,000 low-income and under-insured Medi-Cal patients. Abrams is a well-regarded and highly experienced healthcare executive with over 30 years' experience working with payers and providers in mature managed care markets, and will lead the strategy and execution of IHP's business, ensuring true clinical, financial and administrative integration.

Industry veteran Victoria Abrams joins Health Center Partners of Southern California as executive vice president of Integrated Health Partners, spearheading the clinically integrated network's acceleration toward value-based care and reimbursement models.

"Victoria is the ideal leader to spearhead Integrated Health Partners at this pivotal time as we accelerate our evolution toward value-based care and reimbursement models," stated Henry N. Tuttle, president and CEO of Health Center Partners. "Her track record of success in establishing and advising accountable care organizations (ACOs) is unparalleled, and her experience negotiating relationships with provider networks, health plans, hospitals and others make her uniquely qualified to steer IHP toward its vision of becoming the preeminent clinically integrated network for value-based care."

IHP unites community health centers in Southern California to advance standards of quality care, improve health outcomes for 133,000 lives under management and reduce cost, serving as a model for other organizations as the healthcare sector continues its shift toward value-based care. IHP members, providers and payers collaborate to aggregate data, disseminate best practices, elevate performance standards and improve operational efficiencies, developing sustainable economies of scale that enable all stakeholders to deliver better, more cost-effective healthcare.

Since its creation in 2016, IHP member health centers have shown marked improvements in all care and service metrics as measured by the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS), an assessment tool used by more than 90 percent of America's health plans. The network exceeded goals in nine HEDIS measures by an average of over 23 percent, attained 4 percent year-over-year improvement across HEDIS metrics overall and surpassed its second year goals by more than 20 percent.

"I am thrilled to join the IHP team and look forward to helping the organization realize its groundbreaking vision to transform primary care through the power of innovation and collaboration," stated Abrams. "With rigorous year-one KPIs tied to staffing, plan contract management, risk assessment and implementation of a system-wide population health aggregation tool—all while achieving greater than 10 percent in cost efficiencies—the opportunity ahead is exciting. IHP is exceptionally well poised to achieve its compelling mission."

Abrams' broad-based expertise has been honed over more than three decades in roles spanning a diverse array of entities within managed care ecosystems. Prior to joining IHP, she advised the leadership of the Boston Medical Center, the largest safety net provider in Massachusetts, Boston Accountable Care Organization (BACO) and Boston Healthnet Plan on implementation of the state's recently launched Medicaid ACO. She also oversaw the managed care finance and contracting functions for the commercial and Medicare value-based agreements of BACO's network of federally qualified health centers, hospitals and medical providers, working with the organization's internal strategy group, finance committee and board.

Earlier in her career, she formed and managed for 10 years a best practice medical malpractice liability purchasing group for South Shore Associated Physicians Group, a physician hospital organization subsidiary in Massachusetts; served as executive director of Memorial Healthcare's Managed Care Network (now UMASS Memorial Healthcare), where she lead the development and implementation of a managed care strategy for an integrated health system to move into global capitation value based agreements; and was regional network director for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, leading HMO provider network development and management for northeastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.

Abrams earned a B.S. in community health and health education, and did post-graduate studies in healthcare management at the University of Oregon. She also completed a nine-month HMO management fellowship sponsored by the Group Health Association of America, American Association of Foundations for Medical Care and Federal Office of Health Maintenance Organizations.

"Victoria's decision to join the HCP Family of Companies reaffirms the remarkable progress we've made since the establishment of IHP two years ago," added Tuttle. "In addition to realizing year-over-year improvements of 6.4 percent on average across 13 key HEDIS measures, IHP's minimum performance level HEDIS values are the highest ever posted within the Molina Healthcare provider network in California. With Victoria at the helm, IHP is primed to further augment its early success, achieving the quadruple aim of enhancing the patient and provider experience, improving health outcomes and reducing the cost of care."

About Integrated Health Partners
The region's leading clinically integrated primary care network, Integrated Health Partners (IHP) brings together 10 community health center members representing more than 750,000 low-income and under-insured Medi-Cal patients in San Diego and Riverside Counties. With 133,000 patients under contract through four insurance plans—Molina Healthcare, CareFirst, Beacon Health Options and Inland Empire Health Plan—IHP acts as a powerful advocate for primary health care providers who serve underserved communities. A subsidiary of Health Center Partners of Southern California, IHP seeks to improve the quality of healthcare outcomes by better preparing its members to meet the future needs of patients and evolving demands of the health care industry. For more information, visit www.ihpsocal.org.

About Health Center Partners of Southern California
Health Center Partners and its subsidiaries serve as the nexus for members and partners to transform primary care through the power of innovation and collaboration. Its health policy, public affairs and advocacy efforts enhance the development of and recognition for members that enrich the patient experience and improve the human condition through access to quality health care and related services for diverse communities, with an emphasis on low-income and uninsured populations. For more information, visit www.hcpsocal.org.

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