Paramount Health Options (PHO)

Paramount Health Options (PHO), formerly Cedar Rapids Physician Hospital Organization, is a provider-owned member-driven partnership formed in 1994. PHO serves over 2,100 physicians, allied health providers and hospitals in 76 counties in Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska. PHO is currently contracted with 12 payers, including Iowa’s two Medicaid managed care organizations. As part of payer contracting, PHO has delegated credentialing agreements with payers which eases the burden on providers. Services offered include payer contracting, credentialing, recredentialing, Medicare and Iowa Medicaid enrollment, ongoing monitoring, primary source verification, claims resolution, group purchasing and educational resources. Paramount Credentialing Verification Organization (PCVO), a wholly-owned subsidiary of PHO, is nationally certified by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).