Athens Medical Group and ADVANTAGE Health Solutions, Inc.(SM), a regional managed care health plan owned by the Sisters of St. Francis and Ascension Health, have signed a multi-year contract to provide health care in the Montgomery County region. This addition to ADVANTAGE’s local network of providers, which includes St. Clare Medical Center, was announced today by Brett Spencer, MD, CEO of Athens and Vicki Perry, president and CEO of ADVANTAGE.
This agreement will allow those enrolled in ADVANTAGE’s Point of Service and HMO plans to select a physician from the Athens Medical Group for their primary care physician. In addition, this new agreement allows ADVANTAGE to kick off its marketing campaign in Crawfordsville, Ind., to health insurance brokers and employers. Employers such as IVY Tech, Eli Lilly, St. Clare, DaimlerChrysler and Subaru already offer the ADVANTAGE plan to their employees. More than 200 employer groups in Indiana offer ADVANTAGE.
With the addition of Athens Medical Group, ADVANTAGE now has more than 5,010 health care providers participating in managed care commercial products. This includes nearly 1,229 primary care providers, over 3,755 specialists, and 26 acute care hospitals throughout Indiana.
Athens Medical Group and ADVANTAGE pursue high standards of medical care and work diligently to improve the health of the communities they serve. “Thanks to our relationship with Athens Medical Group, we can bring our principles of outstanding service, individualized attention, and quality focus to Montgomery County,” said Perry. “Our goal is to enhance the health and well-being of our members, and we look forward to achieving that goal with our new network of providers.”
ADVANTAGE’s growing network in the Crawfordsville, Lafayette and Indianapolis areas serve employers large and small with a variety of benefit plan options, including preventive care, medical services, prescription drugs, vision and dental benefits. ADVANTAGE also offers health savings accounts, which allow employees more flexibility in their health care spending.
ADVANTAGE plans encourage members to practice prevention and healthy lifestyle habits. More than 25 percent of Indiana residents are overweight or obese. Reactionary health care is no longer enough to maintain public health. ADVANTAGE works with providers like Athens Medical Group to increase the number of members using preventative health care and to decrease the need for reactionary health care.
About ADVANTAGE Health Solutions, Inc.(SM)
ADVANTAGE is a managed care organization offering HMO, POS, and self funded benefit plans, as well as a high deductible plan with an HSA option and a Medicare Advantage product. Founded by four Catholic health care systems — Ascension Health, Sisters of St. Francis Health Services, Inc., Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, Inc., and Ancilla Health Systems, Inc., ADVANTAGE began its operations in 2000 as a spin-off from Sagamore Health Network. Since inception, ADVANTAGE has achieved significant milestones, such as its NCQA Excellent Accreditation status, and is one of the fastest growing managed care organizations in Indiana, serving more than 65,000 members. For more information on ADVANTAGE or their ADVANTAGE Preferred Plus plans go to www.advantageplan.com.
