PHOENIX & DENVER & SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--To offer patient-focused care for Medicare beneficiaries, Iora Health and Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) have teamed up to add five additional Iora Primary Care practices to Humana’s Medicare Advantage Plan networks in Arizona, Colorado and Washington state.

“At Iora we believe that relationships are the missing link in health care. However, we find that Medicare-eligible patients rarely receive enough time with their doctor, or the support and tools necessary to cope with a complex health care system”

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Humana is adding these new Iora Primary Care practice locations to its network in an effort to improve access to care and quality of care while increasing patients’ ability to manage their own care to improve their health and well-being. The new practices, operated by Iora Health, accept certain Medicare Advantage plans administered by Humana and do not accept Medicare Advantage plans administered by other carriers.

Humana’s value-based relationships with providers, like Iora, are aimed at transforming health care by offering proactive, personalized care for Medicare beneficiaries. Humana and Iora strive to meet monthly to review member cases and issues. This helps ensure that members aren’t simply treated for what ails them, but are also provided with a more comprehensive team working on a plan to keep them on the path to their best health and ensuring they receive a health care experience designed with their needs foremost in mind.

The new Iora Health^® Primary Care practices are located at:

• Arizona: 9124 E. Main Street, Mesa, AZ 85207
• Arizona: 5110 E. Southern Ave., Mesa, AZ 85206
• Colorado: 1080 S. Sable Blvd., Aurora, CO 80012
• Colorado: 8246 W. Bowles Ave., Bldg. 1, Unit T, Littleton, CO 80123
• Washington state: 1414 S. 324^th Street, Ste. B207, Federal Way, WA 98003

The Iora practices will start seeing patients on Oct. 3, 2016.

“At Iora we believe that relationships are the missing link in health care. However, we find that Medicare-eligible patients rarely receive enough time with their doctor, or the support and tools necessary to cope with a complex health care system,” said Duncan Reece, General Manager and Vice President for Iora Health. “In just the first year, our Net Promoter Scores^® - at 90% - are consistently higher than most consumer brands¹ and hospitalization rates declined by 40 percent for our patients who have been engaged for at least one year².”

Iora Primary Care practices focus on a patient-first experience, which is tailored to the needs of each patient. Iora^® offers:

• Smaller panel sizes than the industry average so that doctors can spend more time listening to patients’ needs.
• Integrated care team that includes doctors, Health Coaches, and Behavioral Health Specialists, who all help guide patients through the complex health system and ensure their care addresses the whole person, not just symptoms.
• Convenience: 24/7 access to doctors by phone for urgent needs, same/next day appointments, onsite labs, and locations with free parking.
• Access to Iora’s Chirp technology, a proprietary medical record that patients can use to schedule appointments, access their records, and email with the care team.
• Close collaboration with in-network specialists with whom Iora has built relationships.
• Staff familiarity with the member’s Medicare Advantage insurance, since the practice only accepts Medicare Advantage plans administered by Humana, which simplifies billing issues/questions.

This is the third consecutive year Iora Health and Humana have teamed up. The organizations first teamed up in 2014 and again in 2015. The new practices mean that Humana Medicare Advantage members have access to Iora^®’s 16 primary care practices – five in Phoenix metro, two in Tucson, five in Denver and four in Seattle.

“We are seeing encouraging results in our Humana Medicare Advantage members who go to an Iora Primary Care practice. That’s why we are excited to partner with Iora for the third straight year to offer our members access to Iora’s primary care practices in more areas of Arizona, Colorado and Washington state,” said Mark El-Tawil, West Division Leader for Humana. “Humana’s strong Medicare capabilities and Iora’s passionate focus on patient care allows us to collaborate in order to offer our Humana members a health care that is transformational with a focus on getting and keeping these member healthy.”

In 2014, on average, Humana Medicare Advantage members served by physicians under value-based care arrangements experienced fewer ER visits and hospital admissions; higher screening rates, including those for colorectal cancer (+7 percent) and breast cancer (+6 percent); and healthier outcomes compared to members who were treated by physicians with standard Medicare Advantage reimbursement arrangements.

As of June 30, 2016, Humana has 1.7 million individual Medicare Advantage members and 200,000 commercial members who are cared for by 48,200 primary care providers, in more than 900 value-based relationships across 43 states and Puerto Rico.

As of June 30, 2016, approximately 61 percent of Humana individual Medicare Advantage members are seeing providers who are in value-based payment relationships with Humana. Humana’s goal is to have 75 percent of individual Medicare Advantage members using providers in value-based payment models by the end of 2017. For more information, visit humana.com/accountable-care or humana.com/valuebasedcare.

About Iora Health^®

Iora Health^® is building a different kind of health system to deliver high impact relationship based care. With a mission to restore humanity to health care and goal to transform healthcare overall, Iora Health’s care model provides extraordinary service to patients to ensure improved health outcomes while lowering overall plan costs. Our patients enjoy the benefits of better access to care, office and non-office based encounters (e.g. phone, text messages, and email), an accessible and transparent medical record, and robust educational offerings. Our practices across the U.S. enjoy the benefits of smaller panel sizes, closer relationships with patients, and the opportunity to lead systemic change in health care delivery while working with a true team.

For more information, please visit www.iorahealth.com.

About Humana

Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., is a leading health and well-being company focused on making it easy for people to achieve their best health with clinical excellence through coordinated care. The company’s strategy integrates care delivery, the member experience, and clinical and consumer insights to encourage engagement, behavior change, proactive clinical outreach and wellness for the millions of people we serve across the country.

More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company’s web site at www.humana.com, including copies of:

• Annual reports to stockholders
• Securities and Exchange Commission filings
• Most recent investor conference presentations
• Quarterly earnings news releases
• Calendar of events
• Corporate Governance information

Additional Information:

Humana is a Medicare Advantage HMO, PPO and PFFS organization with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in any Humana plan depends on contract renewal. Humana is a Coordinated Care plan with a Medicare contract and a contract with the Washington Medicaid program. Other Physicians/Providers are available in our network.

Humana Inc. and its subsidiaries (“Humana”) do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.

English: ATTENTION: If you do not speak English, language assistance services, free of charge, are available to you. Call 1-800-552-0751 (TTY: 711).

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References:

¹ Net Promoter Score^® Survey Given to Iora Primary Care Patients - March 2016 through August 2016

² Iora Health^®’s Chirp Data, Utilization - Inpatient Admission PMPM Statistics - May 2015 through August 2016