Pittsburgh-based West Penn Allegheny Health System's threat to abandon its affiliation agreement with Highmark is prompting questions about how the health insurer's strategy for an in-house provider network will survive, according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report.
West Penn, with its six hospitals and 2,700 physicians, is the centerpiece of the payor's billion-dollar plan for a provider network. The insurer has urged West Penn to return to the negotiating table and took legal action last week by suing the system to prevent it from affiliation talks with other suitors.
The deal is looking riskier to many healthcare business experts, according to the report.
One healthcare consultant said if the Highmark-West Penn deal "gets killed," it is unlikely that Highmark will continue its deal with Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Jefferson Hills, Pa., since a system of one hospital may not make sense.
The payor may also have to reconsider the entire existence of its provider wing and instead build stronger alliances with physicians — not hospitals.
Highmark spokesperson Michael Weinstein said the company is continuing to make investments in other elements of the provider network, such as affiliations with other health systems and physicians and the development of outpatient care settings.
"The proposed affiliation with Jefferson Regional Medical Center is not dependent on completion of the Highmark-WPAHS transaction," Mr. Weinstein said in the report.
Highmark Files Suit to Stop West Penn From New Merger Talks
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West Penn, with its six hospitals and 2,700 physicians, is the centerpiece of the payor's billion-dollar plan for a provider network. The insurer has urged West Penn to return to the negotiating table and took legal action last week by suing the system to prevent it from affiliation talks with other suitors.
The deal is looking riskier to many healthcare business experts, according to the report.
One healthcare consultant said if the Highmark-West Penn deal "gets killed," it is unlikely that Highmark will continue its deal with Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Jefferson Hills, Pa., since a system of one hospital may not make sense.
The payor may also have to reconsider the entire existence of its provider wing and instead build stronger alliances with physicians — not hospitals.
Highmark spokesperson Michael Weinstein said the company is continuing to make investments in other elements of the provider network, such as affiliations with other health systems and physicians and the development of outpatient care settings.
"The proposed affiliation with Jefferson Regional Medical Center is not dependent on completion of the Highmark-WPAHS transaction," Mr. Weinstein said in the report.
More Articles on Highmark and West Penn Allegheny Health System:
Highmark Wants Restraining Order to Keep West Penn From Other SuitorsHighmark Files Suit to Stop West Penn From New Merger Talks
Did Highmark's Firing of CEO Dr. Ken Melani Prompt Problems With West Penn?