MANCHESTER Granite Healthcare Network, a collaboration among five hospital systems, is partnering with Cigna Health Care on a new accountable care organization.

It's really a great initiative for us, Rachel Rowe, executive director of Granite Healthcare Network, said.

It's the first time Granite Healthcare Network is entering into a partnership with an insurer to provide better health for communities, better care for patients and lower cost, she said.

It also is the first time Cigna has partnered in an accountable care model with multiple organizations, spokesman Mark Slitt said.

Most prior agreements were with a primary care doctor's office, an integrated delivery system including doctors and facilities or a multi-speciality practice.

This is a little bit of a twist, he said.

Granite Healthcare Network is made up of Concord Hospital, Elliot Hospital, LRGHealthcare (Lakes Region General and Franklin Regional hospitals), Southern New Hampshire Health System (Southern New Hampshire Medical Center) and Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover.

The hospitals are adopting analytical programs to improve care and reduce costs. Together, they cover nearly half the state's population.

An accountable care organization is a group of health care professionals that accepts responsibility to be held accountable for the population it serves. Cigna calls its model collaborative accountable care.

Care coordination is well-known to provide better outcome so we're looking forward to the opportunity to work with Cigna on that; Rowe said.

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New twist delivers health care