Our performance focuses on 3 key areas: Growth, Integration, and Transformation. In each one, we offer perspectives and plans based on unique accomplishments and creative, actionable solutions.
Growth
Academic health system growth can occur in a number of ways.
Merging assets can achieve both system growth and improved patient service within the same community.
Example: Two hospitals have an opportunity to merge, unchallenged by the FTC due to the statewide definition of “market.”
The completed transaction enabled both hospitals to retain their identity, yet become fully integrated to create one of the largest hospitals in the country at 1544 beds.
Key features
• One hospital/one provider number.
• Complete integration and best practices taken from each partner.
• Service rationalization on two campuses to create centers of excellence and reduced duplication of services and ancillary support technology.
• EPIC implemented to allow the merged entity to create one fully integrated electronic medical record system. Platform for growth, clinical and academic excellence.
Results
• A new enterprise is successfully launched with savings to the healthcare system in excess of $70 million per year with long-term sustainability.
Integration
Integration can realize efficiencies while achieving a care signature and seamless patient experience.
Service lines can offer significant opportunities to enhance integration and build regionally preeminent clinical excellence.
An AMC with a regionally prominent surgical cardiac program faced limitations in its ability to provide access to beds and surgical suites.
Our facilitation of a virtual cardiac surgery program was designed and implemented to move moderate complexity cardiac surgery to a network hospital, with mechanisms to share program direction and operating margin.
Key features
• The main cardiac surgical faculty now has access to two sites, with cases of greater complexity managed at the AMC site and moderate complexity at the community-based site.
• Physician leadership, staffing, care protocols and program direction are virtual, spanning both hospital host sites.
• A financial model now incorporates margin sharing as an incentive to achieve the vision of system integration. This model can be replicated in virtually any service line or center of excellence.
Results:
• Care standardization. Better outcomes. A signature patient experience. And, the achievement of an important but elusive goal: System collaboration.
Transformation
A Neurovascular Care Network provides an example of how transformation can result in broad-scale improvements.
Tremendous advances in stroke care are possible if common standards can be employed between system and non-system partners.
In this case, the AMC required a neurovascular diagnosis and treatment network for strokes.
Key features
• A telestroke service employing an electronic bunker with 24/7 stroke neurology coverage.
• The ability to employ telestroke capabilities across geographic areas coupled with an air and ground transport network.
• The AMC telestroke network is available to all hospitals in the state regardless of sponsorship or affiliation.
• Specialty trained neurosurgeons are deployed at key locations with the ability to perform minimally invasive thrombectomies.
• A rapid transfer mechanism provides air and ground transport when a patient needs time-sensitive intervention.
Results
• One standard of care for strokes at any of 13 participating hospitals across the state.
• The ability to deliver better outcomes, a single standard of care, and the effective deployment of limited and expensive resources.