PHOENIX & SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Improved health and more coordinated care for Medicare Advantage members is the goal behind a new Accountable Care arrangement and population health management partnership between Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) and Iora Health.

“We’re excited that Iora’s unique care model will provide innovative patient-centered care for our Humana Medicare Advantage members, improving their well-being.”

The partnership launches Iora’s unique health care model in Arizona and Washington where Iora Health will open four new primary care practices – two in Phoenix and two in Seattle – under the Iora Primary Care brand.

The primary care practices are designed exclusively for Humana’s Medicare Advantage members and will provide members access to affordable, quality care. Building on Iora’s proven success, these practices will have integrated care teams that include doctors, nurses, health coaches, medication management, behavioral health and social services resources. Iora builds practices to meet the specific needs of the communities they serve, including hiring teams who speak their patients’ languages and who understand the local challenges patients face.

“The partnership with Humana allows Iora to help improve the lives of seniors in Phoenix and Seattle,” said Rushika Fernandopulle, M.D., M.P.P., CEO and Co-Founder of Iora Health. “Seniors deserve care matched to their specific needs. Iora’s people-first primary care operating system helps do just that. We’re thrilled to partner with Humana to continue to restore humanity to health care.”

Iora Health serves over 9,000 patients in seven primary care practices across four states. Iora has expanded the definition of primary care to include integrated health and wellness, offering behavioral health and groups like Diabetes Club and yoga. Results have shown improved patient engagement, experience and clinical outcomes. Additionally, Iora’s proprietary collaborative care technology enables Iora to treat and manage their full patient population and allows for patients to view and contribute to their medical record.

“Partnerships like the one with Iora Primary Care help Humana close the gap for our members by making access to care easier and providing coordination of care,” said Mark El-Tawil, West Division Leader for Humana’s Senior Products. “We’re excited that Iora’s unique care model will provide innovative patient-centered care for our Humana Medicare Advantage members, improving their well-being.”

The Arizona primary care practices are located at 3137 W. Indian School Road in Phoenix and 6611 W. Peoria Avenue in Glendale. The Washington primary care practices are located at 306 23^rd Avenue South in Seattle and 15214 Aurora Avenue North in Shoreline.

The Arizona and Seattle primary care practices will open September 2014, and will start seeing Humana Medicare Advantage members on Oct. 1, 2014. The Shoreline, Wash., primary care practices will open October 2014, and will start seeing Humana Medicare Advantage members on Nov. 1, 2014.

Humana aims to work closely with doctors and hospitals through its Accountable Care Continuum. The continuum is a stepped approach to pay-for-value reimbursement that allows the company to implement different value-based partnerships with hospitals and doctors based on their infrastructure capabilities and risk-tolerance.

The new partnership between Humana and Iora Health includes value-based incentives tied to performance improvement and will bring better patient care coordination, more cost effective, quality care and a world-class patient experience to Humana members in Arizona and Washington. The partnership will offer more personalized care and a broad range of population management tools like predictive analytics and chronic care, disease management and wellness programs.

The Humana/Iora Health partnership emphasizes quality outcomes with a focus on care coordination and leverages measures as defined by the National Committee for Quality Assurance Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set like diabetes care and treatment, breast cancer screenings, colorectal cancer screenings and high-risk medication.

Humana has a 25-year Accountable Care relationship history with more than one million members that are cared for by 33,000 primary care physicians, in more than 900 Accountable Care relationships across 40 states and Puerto Rico.

About Iora Health

Iora Health is restoring humanity to healthcare by providing a radically different model of primary care built from the ground up. Iora Health’s care model provides extraordinary service to patients to ensure improved health outcomes while also 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 sizes, closer relationships with patients, and the opportunity to lead systemic change in healthcare delivery while working with a true team.

Iora Primary Care practices are Iora Health’s branded practices. Iora will begin serving Humana Medicare Advantage members in four Iora Primary Care practices in 2014 in Arizona and Washington. The first Iora Primary Care practice is in Burlington, Mass serving insured members of the New England Carpenters Health Benefits Fund and employees of Lahey Health. For more information, please visit www.iorahealth.com or www.ioraprimarycare.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;
• Replays of most recent earnings release conference calls;
• Calendar of events (including upcoming earnings conference call dates and times, as well as planned interaction with research analysts and institutional investors);
• Corporate Governance information.