The Northern, Ky.-based St. Elizabeth Healthcare and the Cincinnati, Ohio-based TriHealth have signed a letter of intent to establish Healthcare Solutions Network, a regional health organization designed with the goal to enable the two organizations to deliver better health, better patient experiences, and lower costs.
St. Elizabeth is comprised of six acute-care hospitals with almost 1,200 licensed beds. TriHealth, an affiliate of Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives, has four acute-care hospitals and an expansive ambulatory network throughout the Cincinnati metropolitan area.
This collaboration is not a merger; each organization continues to operate its own facilities and maintain its own management and governing board. Healthcare Solutions Network is jointly owned by St. Elizabeth and TriHealth to house new capabilities and support services that will be needed for the rapidly emerging changes in healthcare, officials of the organizations say.
First-year priorities include:
- Managed care products: Introducing a new Medicare Advantage product to the market for this exclusive network. Providing a narrow network for health plans, which will offer a cost-efficient, high-quality alternative to broad network Preferred Provider Organization health insurance products.
- Integrated network: Creating a single network to enable employed physicians, independent physicians and hospitals to align to improve quality and outcomes under a common infrastructure.
- Population health management: Developing a program to help manage the health of large patient groups through a single clinical network that offers additional value for patients.
- Clinical services: Coordinating select services to facilitate adoption of best practices, improve quality access at patient and population levels and provide more efficient use of healthcare resources.
Our systems’ services are highly complementary,” TriHealth CEO John Prout said in a statement. “This collaboration will make it easier for physicians, patients, employers and insurers to access one, high-quality, lower cost and efficient source for health services and solutions across the region.”
