Frontier HMO vies for region

Frontier Community Health Plans Inc. of Englewood has expanded its health-maintenance organization into Larimer County and is negotiating to enter
Weld County.

The year-old HMO originally served only the Denver area but now serves 12 counties, including Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, El
Paso, Elbert, Fremont, Jefferson, Larimer, Pueblo and Teller counties.

Joel Edelman, executive vice president of Frontier, said the HMO intends to establish a statewide network.

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“We have to be statewide, ultimately, if we’re going to be really successful,” Edelman said, adding that Frontier would like to be statewide by early
1997.

The HMO now claims about 3,000 members statewide but has a goal of 20,000 to 25,000 members by the end of 1997, Edelman said.

He said he’s unsure what level of membership Frontier will be able to attain in Larimer and Weld counties.

“We need to learn more about that particular area,” Edelman said. “I don’t think our experience in Denver is reasonable basis for assessing what might
happen in Weld and Larimer.”

Already, Frontier has contracted with Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Fort Collins IPA, an individual practice association, and other local
physicians.

In addition to its HMO and a point-of-service product, Frontier contracts with American Medical Security at 140 W. Oak St. in Fort Collins to offer
preferred-provider organization and indemnity products.

“Together [with American Medical], we’re able to offer all of the choices that an employer and employee could want,” Edelman said.

Edelman and Frontier’s president, David Engleberg, boast extensive health-care experience. Edelman served for about 15 years as president of Rose
Medical Center in Denver, while Engleberg formerly was an executive for FHP Health Care.

Edelman differentiated Frontier from other HMOs by saying his company doesn’t seek to “micromanage” health care by erecting barriers between
patients and doctors.

Frontier also intends to participate in Medicaid coverage locally, as well as coverage for federal employees. The HMO expects to launch a Medicare
product when enrollment reaches 5,000.

Stephen Mack, regional director of managed care for the Western Plains Health Network, a unit of the Lutheran Hospital System, acknowledged that
he’s in discussions with Frontier, but he declined to speculate on the likely outcome of the talks.

Mack said he examines several issues when deciding whether to sign with an HMO, including the financial arrangement, total enrollment and the
business philosophy of the organization.

Western Plains offers several managed-care programs for McKee Medical Center in Loveland, North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley, East
Morgan County Hospital in Brush and Sterling Regional Medical Center, plus health facilities in Holyoke, Yuma and Wray.

He said Northern Colorado is seeing increased activity by HMOs. “I think it’s a very competitive time,” he said.