Banner|Aetna’s Care Advocate Team program empowers members to achieve their health goals

By: Robert Groves, MD

At Banner|Aetna, the focus is helping our members achieve their health goals at every stage of life, no matter where they start out on their wellness journey. Members with complex or chronic conditions, like diabetes and heart disease, can count on Banner|Aetna for extra support along the way.

Banner|Aetna’s Care Advocate Team program was designed to make it easier for members who have complex health issue to coordinate and manage their care with the help of Banner Health nurses, social workers, diabetes health educators and pharmacists – all at no additional cost.

Other health insurance companies may offer similar programs, but our unique organizational structure is what makes the Care Advocate Team so innovative—and effective. This program is provided by Banner|Aetna and staffed by Banner Health clinicians, an organization known for its clinical expertise, so the people who already care for our members are guiding them down the path to better health.

This streamlined approach helps members like Robert Sinik^* more easily access healthcare system services. For Robert, extra support and care coordination from the Multi-Disciplinary Care Team was life-changing when the pain from a high school back injury grew more pronounced over time, eventually becoming debilitating. During the worst of it, Robert recalls “I was barely able to walk. It was a disaster.”

That’s when Banner|Aetna’s Care Advocate Team reached out and stepped in to help. The Care Advocate Team identified Robert’s specific barriers to care. And then the team worked with all of his providers, past and present, to create an integrated, individualized plan to help get him back on track to healthier, pain free living.

“They coordinated everything. Before being connected with the Care Advocate Team, there was no plan. Once connected with Banner|Aetna, my care team pulled together all my records and set up my appointments and medications. When I ended up needing surgery, they got me in right away.” After his surgery in May 2021, Robert says he woke up “literally pain free. Before Banner|Aetna’s team intervened, I was told I would be on pain meds to manage this for the rest of my life, but I haven’t taken even a Tylenol^® since.”

Banner|Aetna identifies members like Robert who might benefit from the Care Advocate Team program by analyzing robust medical claims data, and those who feel they may be a good candidate for services can also contact the team directly using the number on the back of their ID card. Once connected, Banner|Aetna members can rely on the entire team to:

• Empower and inspire them to meet their personal health goals
• Help them navigate the healthcare system
• Find services or programs that may improve their health
• Identify barriers to care and ways to address them
• Give them information about effective and affordable treatments

Once enrolled, members receive individualized support from a personalized team that consists of a medical director who oversees the team, a nurse case manager to coordinate care and find resources to address gaps, a pharmacist who explains medicines and helps members reach their health goals, social workers who support members’ emotional well-being, and registered dietitians who give nutrition advice and provide meal-planning tips.

The Care Advocate Team is just one of the innovative ways Banner|Aetna is changing healthcare for the better. Banner|Aetna aims to offer access to more efficient and effective member care at a more affordable cost. We join the right medical professionals with the right technology, so members benefit from quality, personalized healthcare designed to help them reach their health ambitions.

Employers or members can visit Banner|Aetna’s Care Advocate Team program page for more information.

TYLENOL^® is the property of of Johnson & Johnson. *Robert is an actual member of Banner|Aetna.