NORTHEAST

NEW YORK— Insurer Cigna Corp. announced an accountable care effort with the Weill Cornell Physician Organization, New York, that will employ registered nurses to coordinate patient care. The effort includes 71 Weill Cornell primarycare doctors and their patients, according to a news release. The physician organization will manage patient care using nurse coordinators and patient data from Bloomfield, Conn.-based Cigna, according to the release. Cigna also will enroll patients into its programs that address health risks such as stress and smoking. “We believe that initiatives such as this will help transform the way medicine is practiced in the United States—from a system that’s focused mainly on treating illness and rewarding physicians for volume to one that’s patient-centered and emphasizes prevention and primary care,” Dr. Alan Muney, Cigna’s chief medical officer, said in the release. In December, Cigna and a New Jersey independent physicians organization, Partners in Care Corp., announced they had formed an accountable care organization.