Piedmont Healthcare and UnitedHealthcare announced they have reached agreement on a three-year contract that will keep all Piedmont Healthcare hospitals and physicians in UnitedHealthcare’s commercial network.

Plan participants enrolled in UnitedHealthcare employer-sponsored and individual plans will have in-network access to the 1,400 physicians in the Piedmont Clinic and all six Piedmont hospitals – Piedmont Atlanta, Piedmont Fayette, Piedmont Mountainside, Piedmont Newnan, Piedmont Henry, and adding Piedmont Newton to this new relationship. The renewed agreement is retroactive to July 1, 2016, ensuring people enrolled in UnitedHealthcare plans do not experience any interruption in their in-network coverage for services received at Piedmont.

“Our priority is our patients and this process has been very tough on them. We are very happy to have found common ground and a way that Piedmont and UnitedHealthcare can work collaboratively to extend high-quality, patient-centered care in our communities,” said Kevin Brown, President and CEO of Piedmont Healthcare. “Our physicians value highly the relationships they have with their patients. The new agreement recognizes the hard work our physicians have put into making the care they provide both higher quality and more cost effective.”

While Piedmont physicians have participated in UnitedHealthcare’s transparency tool for three years, the agreement extends participation to include all Piedmont facilities. This renewed relationship also places more emphasis on value-based performance, ensuring the care patients receive is focused on improved outcomes and overall better health.

“We are grateful for the commitment Piedmont has made to value-based health care and look forward to working together to help people receive personalized and more connected care,” said Garland Scott, CEO, UnitedHealthcare of Georgia. “We thank our plan participants and customers for their support throughout this process and are honored to continue supporting 1.3 million people across Georgia who depend on us for access to quality and cost-effective health care.”