NCI’s second value-based contracting entity is its Independent Practice Association (IPA), called the North Country IPA. This program uses the “messenger model,” in which participants can jointly contract with one or more payers, such as Managed Medicaid, Managed Medicare, or commercial insurers.
Participants in the North Country IPA include hospitals, a Federally-Qualified Health Center, behavioral health providers, and independent primary care providers across Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties.
Much like with the ACO, the IPA pursues value-based contracts that require partners to collaboratively meet specified cost and quality benchmarks for their assigned patient population. The IPA supported partners in reaching the DSRIP and NYS VBP Roadmap goal to have 80-90% of Medicaid Managed Care payments to providers using at least Level 1 value-based payment methodologies by March 31, 2020.
The IPA currently contracts with the region’s two largest Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) — United Healthcare and Fidelis Care — for total cost of care arrangements, in which the IPA partners assume responsibility for the outcomes and costs of their members. Additional opportunities with Managed Medicare and commercial payers are also being pursued for value-based contracting.
For more information about becoming a member of the North Country IPA, please reach out to Erika Flint, Director, or Joanna Loomis, Deputy Director, to learn more.
North Country IPA Members
Carthage Area Hospital
Child & Adolescent Health
Children’s Home of Jefferson County *
Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center
Clifton-Fine Hospital
Complete Family Care
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County
Credo Community Center *
Jefferson County Public Health
Lewis County Public Health
Lowville Medical Associates
Mental Health Association of Jefferson County *
Mountain View Prevention
Nancy Girard, DO
North Country Family Health Center
Northern Regional Center for Independent Living *
Ogdensburg Family Practice
Pediatric Associates
Planned Parenthood
Resolution Center of Jefferson & Lewis Counties
River Hospital
Samaritan Medical Center
St. Lawrence County Community Services *
Transitional Living Services of NNY *
Volunteer Transportation Center
Watertown Internists
Watertown Pediatrics
Watertown Urban Mission
*Network members of the Tughill/Seaway Behavioral Health Care Collaborative