History
In 1990, a Central California health plan turned to Duane Oswald and a core group of mental health professionals to help curb skyrocketing mental healthcare costs. The group created PSY-CARE, a network of behavioral health clinicians to contract “at risk,” accepting a negotiated monthly rate to care for all of the health plan’s covered lives throughout Central California. As part of the agreement, PSY-CARE committed to oversee every aspect of mental health treatment from triage to patient referral throughout the entire spectrum of mental health care. PSY-CARE had the first capitated behavioral health contract in the State of California, and mental health professionals statewide took notice.
In 1992 the group formed Genesis Healthcare Management to provide consulting services to clinicians who wanted to be part of a group and contract with health plans. From Redding to San Jose and Fresno to Los Angeles, Genesis Healthcare Management helped clinicians work closely as a group and negotiate capitation rates, simultaneously giving clinicians more control over the treatment of their patients and their individual business practices.
After 6 successful years in business, and now working with many different physician specialties throughout the healthcare sector as clients, Genesis Healthcare Management changed its name to Avante, a word with deep-rooted meaning in many languages, but always conveying the sense of being “ahead,” “advanced” or “progressive.” Today, Avante Health reflects the spirit of its namesake – a progressive, forward-thinking company that understands the healthcare environment, and is always moving to where the industry is headed.