Benzinga | Jan 24, 2022 02:02PM EST

Evolent Health Partners With Minority-Owned Business To Support Medicaid Plan Operations in Cook County, Ill.

Evolent Health, Inc. (NYSE:EVH), a health care company that delivers proven clinical and administrative solutions to payers and providers, today announced that it has partnered with a minority-owned business, PCG Consulting Group (PCG), to launch a new customer contact team in Cook County, Ill., which will support more than 400,000 Medicaid health plan members there. The agreement not only advances certain diversity-related goals of the county and state, but it also furthers Evolent's efforts to foster positive economic impact in the minority communities it serves.

Bringing more than 15 years of experience, PCG will supplement the health plan administrative and clinical support services provided by Evolent. Based in Cook County, PCG reflects the diversity of its community, with 79% of its employees currently coming from local underserved areas.

"We are excited for the opportunity to partner with PCG and to support our members, providers and the broader community," said Evolent Health Services CEO Steve Tutewohl. "This initiative aligns closely with our deep commitment to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the work we do on behalf of patients and health plan members across the U.S. With most of our members in Cook County identifying as Black or African American, we believe partnering with minority suppliers there will allow for improved experience, quality of care and overall health equity."

PCG staff members began fielding calls from Cook County Medicaid beneficiaries last week, following an extensive training program provided by Evolent customer service leadership and subject matter experts.

"We are honored to have been selected by Evolent to support Medicaid members in our community," said PCG Founder, President and CEO Tom Numbere, Jr. "We share a vision of customer service operations as a member experience center that immediately establishes a tone of service excellence. Our associates will provide a critical link to help Medicaid beneficiaries access the care and services they need in what can feel like an overwhelming, depersonalized and inaccessible health care system, particularly for historically disadvantaged populations."

The relationship with PCG is one of several that Evolent has initiated to support broader health equity goals in Cook County. In April 2021, Evolent partnered with faith-based leaders throughout Cook County to promote COVID-19 vaccine education that was expected to reach up to 1 million Black and Latinx congregants during Easter weekend worship. Additionally, in response to the pandemic, in November 2020 teams across Evolent donated over 10,000 face masks, many of them sewn by employees, for children in Cook County.

"Diversity helps build stronger teams, leads to better care delivery, and opens the door to better problem solving and more perspectives that address the unique challenges of typically underrepresented groups," said Evolent Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Naprisha Taylor. "We are thrilled by this opportunity to partner with PCG, as an experienced and respected minority-owned business, to help support the unique health care needs of communities in Cook County."

Taylor says the model could potentially be expanded to a broad range of health plan partners going forward.