LewisGale Regional Health System (LGRHS) announced this week that it has reached a new provider agreement with Carilion Clinic to be a participating provider in its Medicare Advantage plans. The agreement gives enrollees full access to all LewisGale facilities and physicians, effective January 1, 2012.
“We are very pleased that Carilion has asked us to participate in its Medicare Advantage plans,” said Victor Giovanetti, president of LewisGale Regional Health System. “As our presence in the marketplace has grown and our health system has been recognized locally and nationally for providing exceptional care, an increasing number of people want an insurance plan that allows them access to our physicians and hospitals.”
The new provider agreement covers inpatient, outpatient, and primary care services at all four hospitals—LewisGale Medical Center, LewisGale Hospital Montgomery, LewisGale Hospital Pulaski, and LewisGale Hospital Alleghany as well as eight outpatient centers and 135 employed physicians.
The new agreements with Carilion and recently-announced Humana plan, along with four other Medicare Advantage companies that LewisGale is participating in, gives 90 percent of the population enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans access to the health system’s facilities and physicians.
While LewisGale employed physicians are automatically part of the new agreements with Carilion Clinic and Humana, the health system’s 500 independent physicians – making up the majority of LewisGale Hospitals’ medical staffs – will also be invited to participate in the new agreements, according to Humana and Carilion.
“This is a ‘win-win-win’ for everyone – the insurance companies and healthcare providers, but, most importantly, it’s providing the best option for our community,” says Giovanetti.
