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St. John's ranks 14th among nation's Top 100 Integrated Health Systems
Feb. 14, 2005
St. John's has risen from No. 20 to earn the No. 14 spot on the 2005 "IHN
(Integrated Health Systems) 100" ranking by Verispan. The Chicago-based research
firm has ranked health care networks for the past eight years. Verispan's rating
system evaluates each network's ability to operate as a unified organization in
each of eight categories: integration, integrated technology, contractual
capabilities, outpatient utilization, financial stability, services and access,
hospital utilization and physicians.
"The focus on integration has resulted in improved clinical outcomes in the care
of people with certain chronic diseases, such as diabetes, asthma and congestive
heart failure," says Donald Wantuck, M.D., St. John's Board chairman. "The
extent to which our organization is integrated and the physicians and staff
address common problems and develop common programs together is extraordinary."
In order to improve health and impact the cost-effectiveness of health care, you
have to be able to control or facilitate all aspects of health care, says Ronnie
Brownsworth, M.D., Executive Vice President, St. John’s Health Plans.
“An integrated health system has all aspects of health care working together and
the ability to create processes that fill in the gaps between care.”
In addition to positively impacting clinical outcomes through improved medical
management of patients, the integration of hospitals, physician offices and
health plans as one system allows for data-driven solutions that truly impact
health care cost drivers.
“Our challenge in health care is to deliver the right service in the right time
in the right place,” says Jay Eckersly, St. John’s Health System President/CEO.
“ And as we’re looking at how to accomplish that, we use tools and create
systems that improve access to information, apply evidence-based criteria to
make sure that we’re doing the right thing at the right time and place and
organize ourselves so that we can act on that information. We can’t affect
everything that is driving health care costs or creating barriers to improve
health, but we can, as an integrated health system align the quality and
economic interest of physicians, nurses, clinicians and hospitals, to get us
closer to that mission.”
“ The degree to which physicians, nurses, and clinicians in the hospital work
together, is the degree to which we’re going to be affective; in going into the
community and contracting our services, for the sole purpose of improving health
status.”
For more information, and to see the top 100 networks, see the IHN
information page at
www.verispan.com
For media information, please contact St. John’s Media Relations at
417-820-2426.
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