Managed Services Organization (MSO) Development and Optimization

Tackling population health with a new management engine.

As risk continues to shift from health plans to providers as part of managed care value-based contracting arrangements, many of the functions and services traditionally owned by health plans are now more appropriately owned and operated by health systems, IPAs and ACOs.

A management services organization (MSO) can be a gateway for providers to apply a population health lens to their practice or network with a focus on quality and outcomes, ultimately enabling the practice to better control overall the total cost of care. MSOs, administrative services organizations (ASOs), care management organizations (CMOs), population health services organizations (PHSOs) and the functions they provide, come in many shapes and sizes. The governance structure and functionality of an MSO is unique to the health system, IPA, ACO or health plan it is designed to serve. A provider taking risk can design or outsource an MSO for a single function/service or many functions/services depending on their needs.

Many health systems are balancing the MSO type needs of a wholly owned or joint venture health plan, one or more ACOs and one or more IPAs. As a result, health systems and provider organizations are grappling with decisions about which functions they can realistically provide and how they can organize themselves to deliver these functions in a cost-effective way that allows them to capture and effectively manage as much of the premium dollar as possible.

COPE Health Solutions works in collaboration with our clients to help them understand the value of MSO infrastructure as they consider opportunities to manage risk, improve financial and clinical performance and meet the needs of all members.

Our team helps clients to understand the scope of MSO service and capabilities, assess existing MSO services and capabilities and recommend solutions to optimize performance, align with market drivers, and achieve both short and long-term member management goals. The experts at COPE Health Solutions also assist providers to establish their own MSO entities, including build/buy decision support, to help best control and manage risk.

 

Our Approach:

• Leverage a standard, yet customizable evaluation tool to enable benchmarking of MSO services, pricing and capabilities against industry leading MSOs
• Conduct a comprehensive, detailed analysis to assess organization’s market need, existing infrastructure (including IT), re-deployable resources, current vendor contracts and organizational readiness
• Provide actionable recommendations and strategic planning to help your organization prioritize investments in MSO services and capabilities, including build/buy decisions
• Develop operational plan and implementation support for any recommended initiatives or procurement processes necessary to optimize MSO services and capabilities