Allina Health, Health Catalyst sign a $100 million deal to improve outcomes

Allina Health, Health Catalyst sign a $100 million deal to improve outcomes

Allina Health and Health Catalyst have $100 million deal to combine technologies, clinical content and front-line personnel to improve the quality and lower the cost of care for Allina’s patients and to serve as a model for outcomes improvement nationwide.

The 10-year agreement marks the culmination of a relationship that began in 2008, when Allina Health became Health Catalyst’s first customer.

“This agreement with Health Catalyst is unique in the industry and will accelerate outcomes improvement for those served through Allina Health as well as create a roadmap for broader outcomes transformation both here and across the country,” said Penny Wheeler, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of Allina Health.

In the process, Allina Health will become a “living laboratory” and national showcase for front-line outcomes improvement.There are two major elements are included in the deal: first, Allina Health will outsource its data warehousing, analytics and performance improvement technology, content, and personnel to Health Catalyst to further accelerate the health system’s significant advances in improving care. The Allina employees currently working in these areas will become onsite Health Catalyst team members in phases beginning this month.

Second, Allina will gain access to Health Catalyst’s full technology, content and deployment expertise to accelerate outcomes improvement at Allina. The partnership’s governing committee will annually identify a prioritized list of improvement projects, each designed to provide measurable care improvement and financial value to Allina, and as success is realized, the partnership will share in the economic benefits of that success.

In the process, Allina Health will become a “living laboratory” and national showcase for front-line outcomes improvement, featuring the latest developments in analytics-enabled improvement from Health Catalyst’s portfolio of analytics solutions.

Each year, the committee governing the partnership will agree to a prioritized list of data-driven improvement projects with specific, measurable outcomes goals for each project. Economic rewards will be based on the attainment of these goals. “We expect that this process of using analytics to prioritize projects, in combination with risk-sharing economics, will encourage far more focus and alignment than is found in traditional health system-vendor relationships,” said Gallagher.

Allina Health is a $3.7 billion not-for-profit organization whose more than 90 clinics, 12 hospitals and related healthcare services provide care for nearly 1 million people across Minnesota and western Wisconsin.