A new survey indicates that small hospitals expect bigger hospitals to lead the drive toward a new health delivery model, where clinically integrated networks will provide care and insure the patients receiving it.
The survey, from the New York-based consultancy firm, Kurt Salmon, discovered that 77 percent of respondents see clinical integration initiatives occurring in their markets. Eighty-one percent of the community hospital executives surveyed said they believe clinically integrated networks will develop their own insurance product or develop one through collaboration with a payer.
The survey also revealed that most are under the belief that large health systems and hospitals will develop clinically integrated networks. Only 18.5 percent of respondents believed hospitals with under 300 beds could build one, while 61 percent see large regional health systems in their markets positioning themselves to own the entire integrated care continuum. Large, urban hospitals are three times more likely than small, rural hospitals to participate in joint ventures, clinical co-management arrangements, clinically integrated networks and similar affiliations.
“Community hospitals see the future as one with more partnerships and more information-sharing,” Kurt Salmon senior partner Jeff Hoffman said in a statement. “At the same time, most are still uncertain about the impact clinically integrated networks will have on them and how their own roles as community hospitals will change.
While there was a good deal of skepticism on clinically integrated networks, Hoffman says the improvement of information systems and data analytics should lead to improved quality being delivered more efficiently by aligning physicians within clinically integrated networks.
“Providers that don’t partner and work with their physicians on clinical integration strategies to achieve population health management goals will find themselves shut out of a new paradigm,” Hoffman said.
The survey was a joint venture between Kurt Salmon and the Community Hospital 100, an executive-level conference focused exclusively on the objectives of mid-size, community-based hospitals and health systems.
