Texas Health, Baylor Stake Claims for DFW Market

News this month that Texas Health Resources will launch accountable care organizations with Aetna and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas are sending a clear message to rivals Baylor Health Care System that the battle is on for healthcare supremacy in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Texas Health's announcements come just weeks after Baylor said in mid-December that its plans to merge with Temple-based Scott & White Healthcare to create what would be the largest integrated delivery system in the Lone Star State.

If the proposal survives a due diligence review, the system that emerges will include 42 hospitals, 350 patient care sites, 4,000 doctors, and 34,000 employees, serviced by its own health plan for a coverage area stretching from the 12-county Dallas Metroplex to Temple. 

Not to be outdone, the Texas Health/BCBSTX ACO, announced on January 14, would be one of the largest in the nation. Patients would be served by the 25 hospitals of Texas Health, which is one of the largest faith-based, nonprofit health systems in the nation, with more than 5,500 physicians.

In addition, Texas Health announced this week that it would create an ACO with Aetna that would include more than 750 physicians and other medical professionals from the affiliated Texas Health Resources physicians group.