Lebanon Valley Health Net
In 1995, The Good Samaritan
Hospital asked members of its medical staff to help form the Good Samaritan
Physician Hospital Organization (GSPHO). The goal of the GSPHO was to organize a
local network of health care providers in the Lebanon Valley to enhance the
quality of medical care and preserve a broad choice of local medical providers
for the consumers living in our service area.
These goals would be
accomplished through two initiatives: 1) Apply to the Pennsylvania Department of
Insurance to become a licensed PPO, and 2) Facilitate the contracting process
with insurance companies on behalf of our provider membership. Both of these
initiatives were established and work is on-going to support our
goals.
Lebanon Valley Health Net PPO
In 1996, the Pennsylvania
Insurance Department granted the GSPHO's request to become a limited license,
non-risk bearing PPO. We do business as Lebanon Valley Health Net PPO. We are
not an insurance company. This license enables our "network" to contract
directly with local self-insured employers. We offer attractive discounts and
competitive administrative costs for local self-insured employers seeking a
direct contract for their health plan needs.
Employers choosing to
self-insure and contract with a provider network gain many competitive
advantages. The self-insured company can provide its employees with a very
cost-effective health benefit plan for their employees. They are not limited by
pre-packaged plan designs or the restrictions of physician/hospital choices that
may be associated with other types of managed care plans.
We work with local
employers, insurance brokers and third party administrators to help design and
implement a benefit plan to meet the needs of the business community. Employers
want cost effective plans with a good level of benefits for its employees.
Consumers want good choices for doctors, hospitals and other health-related
services. Our network delivers them - on a local or regional basis.
Regional Links
For employers seeking a
broader physician/hospital network beyond Lebanon County, our network has worked
cooperatively to link our network to other PPO’s in nearby counties.
PrimeSource Health Network - Our entire local network (GSH
& physicians) currently participates with the PrimeSource Health Network
PPO. PrimeSource is a larger PPO network which links doctors and hospitals in
Lebanon (GSH), Hershey (Hershey Medical Center), Harrisburg (Pinnacle Health
System), Camp Hill (Holy Spirit) and Carlisle (Carlisle Hospital) and York,
Adams and Franklin counties (York and Gettysburg hospitals). This larger
regional network also allows local employers to establish direct agreements for
discounts and competitive administrative fees.
Unity - Unity represents a
working agreement between several networks located primarily in South Central
Pennsylvania. Rather than a single point of service model PPO (such as
PrimeSource), our Unity relationship offers employers and their employees access
and discounts to multiple networks in a broad geographic area. Those networks
currently participating in Unity include:
For more information on
either option, or to discuss how we may help with you and your broker with
health benefit plan design and implementation, please contact our office. We
offer advice on selecting the right provider network for your specific
needs.
Contact:
JoAnne Swanger,
Operations Manager, GSPHO
(717) 270-7933
jswanger@gshleb.org