Nov 30 2012
EHS Medical Group reported today the addition of 78,000 new members to their Central Valley operations. The growth makes Central Valley the company's single largest region by membership outside of Los Angeles County.
"It's a big change," said Sherie Archie, Regional Manager of EHS Central Valley. "Since we're already located here in the Tri-County area, we've been well supported by the providers in the community because they know and trust us."
The growth in membership is due to an agreement between Health Net and EHS to provide coverage to CalViva Health members. The agreement does not disrupt members' healthcare because members are allowed to keep their current primary care physicians. EHS provides a virtual healthcare community also known as CONNECT, an online portal that allows communication and collaboration of care between physicians, providers and members.
As a result of the agreement, EHS expects expanded access to healthcare in the Central Valley to lead to better coordination of care and increased patient satisfaction.
"Due to our relationships with two health plans, Anthem and Health Net, we're receiving calls from specialists who want to get inside of our network, which gives our providers the ability to offer their patients more options," said Archie.
To communicate the change, EHS visited new providers and communicated with members to ensure a successful transition.
"We found that face-to-face communication is the best tool for helping new members with the transition," said Archie. "We want to make sure they understand what's happening and get straight answers to their questions. Members are able to see that EHS has the trust of providers and that we take care of providers who care for patients here in the Central Valley."