Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and Novant Health Inc. recently reached an agreement that “emphasizes an ongoing commitment to improving the quality and containing the overall costs of health care,” according to a news release.

Novant Health operates Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center in Bolivia.

“When a health system and insurer work together on solutions to control costs while providing access to high quality care, everybody wins. When we sit down with providers in our communities to review contracts, this is our goal,” Brad Wilson, BCBSNC president and CEO, said in the release.

Wilson said Novant Health “has demonstrated its commitment and willingness from the beginning of our discussions to focus on the value of care, ensuring BCBSNC customers get more for their health care dollar. These are the types of actions needed to move our health care system forward, and they are leading by example.”

Wilson said that inefficient care across the country is estimated to cost patients up to $45 billion a year.

Nearly half of patients said they didn’t have access to medical information that was essential to their care, he added.

The arrangement with Novant Heath is value-based, which means BCBSNC rewards doctors and hospitals for the quality, satisfaction and outcomes of caring for patients, rather than paying for the volume of tests or services.

Novant Health and BCBSNC will work together to prevent unnecessary hospital readmissions and share relevant clinical data with doctors and patients to help them make more informed health care decisions, the release said.

“As an integrated system of physician practices, hospitals, and outpatient centers, Novant Health is committed to delivering a remarkable health care experience to patients and their families while increasing value for all of our customers,” said Bob Seehausen, Novant Health senior vice president of business development and sales.

The cooperative arrangement with BCBSNC “further extends that commitment and includes enhanced data sharing and mutual accountabilities, which allows both organizations to fully align on the key principles of patient-focused, value-based care,” Seehausen said.

The two organizations have focused on addressing cost and quality issues in health care in the past. In April 2015, BCBSNC and Novant Health teamed up to launch a new bundled payment arrangement to reduce costs and improve quality for patients seeking total knee replacements.

Bundled payment agreements allow doctors and hospitals to work collaboratively to deliver higher quality, evidence-based care to reduce complications and readmissions, according to studies by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Overall, participating BCBSNC customers are expected to save 10 to 30 percent on the cost of a knee replacement, officials said.