Cardiovascular Associates of America (“CVAUSA”), a comprehensive cardiology practice management services organization, and Novocardia announced that Novocardia has merged with CVAUSA. Novocardia will be the newest division under CVAUSA, focusing on the development, testing, and scalability of innovative care models and new value-based and risk-based contracting models that improve quality care and efficiency while lowering costs. The Florida-based cardiology groups currently partnering with Novocardia, First Coast Heart and Vascular Center in the Jacksonville area and My Cardiologist in the Miami area, will immediately become partner groups within the CVAUSA network.
Tim Attebery will remain chief executive officer of CVAUSA, and Dan Blumenthal, MD, previously chief executive officer of Novocardia, will become president of CVAUSA’s Novocardia division. In the first merger of its kind in the cardiovascular platform space – Novocardia’s founding investor, Deerfield Management, will appoint a representative to the Board and remain a co-investor, while CVAUSA’s investor, Webster Equity Partners, will continue to lead investment strategy for the organization. This merger positions CVAUSA as the preferred value-based cardiovascular network for payers, risk-bearing providers, and self-insured employers.
“This is a very exciting time for CVAUSA and our growth. There is no other network like this in the United States bringing the depth of knowledge, scope of services, high-level care, and treatment to cardiovascular patients,” said Tim Attebery, CEO, CVAUSA. “Teaming up with Dan and leveraging the foundational elements he built at Novocardia, will allow CVAUSA to expand our footprint rapidly and implement new and better approaches for serving the clinical needs of our patients while also reducing the total cost of cardiovascular care and reducing the financial burden to patients and payers.”
Under Dan’s leadership, Novocardia (meaning a new way to manage cardiovascular patients) will work in partnership with CVAUSA’s Medical Leadership Board to further develop, test, curate, operationalize, and scale proven new care and contracting models across the CVAUSA network which improve the efficiency, quality, access, and cost of cardiovascular care. The Novocardia division will be responsible for continuing to develop and implement new ways cardiovascular disease will be managed, and new methods for reimbursement in a value-based and risk-based environment that reward physicians for shifting care to the lowest cost setting and reducing emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
“Novocardia is thrilled to join the CVAUSA team!” said Dan Blumenthal, president, CVAUSA’s Novocardia division. “In Tim and CVAUSA, we have found a partner which shares our commitment to supporting cardiovascular specialists to continue to drive better outcomes for our patients, improve the value of cardiovascular care, and lead the way towards value-based reimbursement. It is an honor to bring our expertise to CVAUSA and be able to help people throughout the US.”
This significant merger will result in the following:
- Presence in eight states
- Eleven partner groups operating across 100+ locations
- 200+ cardiovascular partner physicians serving 400,000+ active patients
“It’s been a privilege for Deerfield to partner with Dan and his excellent team to build Novocardia and help drive cardiovascular care towards value,” said Stephen Anastos, principal, Deerfield Management. “We couldn’t imagine better partners than the CVAUSA and Webster teams and are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with them to help build the nation’s leading value-based cardiology network.”
Cardiovascular Associates of America has created a business model that enables cardiovascular specialists to retain physician autonomy and ownership augmented by sharing best practices, access to capital, and executive management support. Cardiology group practices within our network will continue to drive all clinical decisions, manage local operations, and be highly involved in strategic operations at the national level.