JP Morgan makes subscription-based primary care a centerpiece of its health care overhaul
The Haven venture may have failed, but JP Morgan is pushing forward with health care reform for its employees.
JPMorgan Chase’s new health care unit is investing $50 million in Vera Whole Health. The start-up company, based in Seattle, is pioneering a new, subscription-type model for employee health care, CNBC reported.
Vera aims to improve outcomes for workers and reduce costs for companies by making primary care teams accountable for the health of employees. Companies pay a flat monthly fee per patient, and primary care doctors coordinate all of their users’ care. The so-called advanced care model requires Vera either to operate or partner with clinics that work in a fundamentally different way than the current system.
Related: JPMorgan Chase launches Morgan Health as next post-Haven step
“In a traditional model, providers are paid based on the volume of procedures; it’s a highly transactional system which, I think, creates some perverse incentives,” Vera CEO Ryan Schmid said. “In our care model, our teams are paid a salary plus bonus, and that bonus is tied specifically to their outcomes.”
JPMorgan will be one of the first large corporate employers to partner with Vera, providing a real-world test for a paradigm shift. Although the use of Vera will be optional for JPMorgan employees, it provides a “higher level of care” that will likely be sought out once the benefits are appreciated, Morgan Health CEO Dan Mendelson said.
“We want to know that our employees are getting screened for cancer,” he said. “We want to know that our employees are having wellness visits, that if they have high cholesterol they’re actually taking their medicine. That is all about setting up a model where you have a group that is responsible.”
The partnership came about through a relationship between the private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice and Morgan Health, the companies said. Clayton recently took a majority stake in Vera that valued the company at $400 million.
“This hasn’t been done before at this scale, what we’re doing with Vera in partnership with JPMorgan and Central Ohio Primary Care to have a model focused on improving outcomes and lowering costs for the under-65 population,” said Ravi Sachdev, a Clayton Dubilier partner and former JPMorgan healthcare banker. “We couldn’t pioneer that without somebody like JPMorgan saying, ‘This is really important for us, we want to be part of the solution.’”
JPMorgan will begin offering Vera’s services to its employees in select regions during benefits enrollment season this fall, the companies said.
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