SynerMed announces achievement of Elite status on 2010 SOE assessment

SynerMed, Inc., the largest Medicaid managed service organization (MSO) in the country, today announced the achievement of "Elite" status on the 2010 Standards of Excellence (SOE) assessment administered by the California Association of Physician Groups (CAPG), the nation's largest professional association representing physicians practicing in the managed care model.  

"SynerMed is committed to optimizing the delivery of healthcare by providing the technology, business processes and services that enable our clients to become accountable care organizations," said James P. Mason, CEO of SynerMed, Inc.  "The CAPG SOE assessment allows us to monitor our progress toward these goals on an annual basis, and we are thrilled to represent our clients in the achievement of 'Elite' status."

The 2010 SOE is CAPG's fourth annual assessment, designed to assess and report the key features and capabilities of accountable healthcare organizations to bring value in both quality and affordability to both individual patients and large populations. The SOE covers most of the elements that an upper-tier accountable care organization (ACO) will need to implement by January 2012, as outlined by the new healthcare law.

"SynerMed has been enabling clients to deliver accountable, coordinated healthcare since the 1990s," Mason said. "Our physician-led management structure organizes groups of providers and holds them responsible for the quality and cost of care for their beneficiaries. This accountable care model puts our clients ahead of schedule for the implementation of healthcare reform over the next several years."

The SOE, conceived by the CAPG board of directors in 2006, tabulates medical group infrastructure in four domains, each of them influencing a different aspect of patient care:  care management, health information technology, accountability and transparency and patient centered care.  Eighty groups, representing 10.8 million Californians, participated in the 2010 SOE assessment. SynerMed's clients - Angeles IPA, Community Family Care, EHS Medical Group, Inland Valleys IPA, Mid County Physicians Medical Group, Multi-Cultural Primary Care Medical Group, Pacific Alliance Medical Group and Southern California Children's Network - provide care to more than 550,000 of those patients.

SynerMed and the other "Elite" groups will be recognized at the opening plenary session of the 2010 CAPG Healthcare Conference on May 14.