N.C.-Based Cone Health to Become Part of Risant Health

In April 2023, Kaiser Permanente announced that Pennsylvania-based Geisinger would be the first acquisition of Risant Health, its nonprofit subsidiary created to accelerate the adoption of value-based care in community-based health systems. At the time, Risant said it expected to acquire four to five additional health systems over the next five years. Now it has announced that North Carolina-based Cone Health will become the second health system to join Risant. 

Risant said that Cone Health will benefit from Geisinger’s and Kaiser Permanente’s leadership in value-based care. 

Greensboro, N.C.-based Cone Health is a nonprofit healthcare network serving more than a half a million people in the Piedmont Triad of North Carolina. It has more than 13,000 employees and more than 700 physicians, along with 1,800 partner physicians. 

The health system includes a network of four acute-care hospitals, a behavioral health facility, an accountable care organization and a health plan. Cone Health treats patients covered by a wide range of commercial health insurance, individual and family plans, Medicare, and Medicaid. Cone Health’s Triad HealthCare Network (THN) is a doctor-led ACO, managing and coordinating care for nearly 200,000 patients in Alamance, Guilford, Randolph, Rockingham and part of Forsyth counties.

Cone and Risant Health have signed a definitive agreement under which Cone Health will become part of Risant Health, pending regulatory approvals. Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed. Risant Health is a nonprofit, charitable organization created by Kaiser Foundation Hospitals to bring together like-minded organizations, increase access to value-based care and coverage, and raise the bar for approaches that bring the best health outcomes.

“Cone Health’s impressive work for decades in moving value-based care forward aligns so well with Risant Health’s vision for the future of healthcare, said Risant Health CEO Jaewon Ryu, M.D., J.D., in a statement. “Their longstanding success and deep commitment to providing high-quality care to North Carolina communities make them an ideal fit to become a part of Risant Health. We will work together to share our industry-leading expertise and innovation to expand access to value-based care to more people in the communities we serve,” added Ryu, who had been Geisinger’s CEO before taking the helm at Risant.

“Becoming part of Risant Health presents a unique opportunity to shape the future of health care in the Triad, the state, and across the nation,” said Cone Health president and CEO Mary Jo Cagle, M.D., in a statement. “As part of Risant Health, Cone Health will build upon its long track record of success making evidence-based health care more accessible and affordable for more people. The people across the Triad will be among the first to benefit,” she said.

Cone Health said it would maintain its brand, name and mission, and maintain its own board, CEO and leadership team. It will continue to work with health plans, provider organizations and independent physicians. “Cone Health customers will see the same doctors, the same nurses and the same staff in the same locations they do today. We do not anticipate changes in the types of care we provide as a result of becoming part of Risant Health,” said Cagle.