Top Integrated Health System

St. John's named top integrated health care system in United States by Verispan
Feb. 5, 2007

St. John's topped the list of integrated health networks in the United States in the 2007 Verispan assessment of integrated healthcare networks. The ranking appears in the Feb. 5, 2007 issue of Modern Healthcare magazine.

The Verispan 2007 IHN 100 recognizes health care systems that operate as a unified organization building a strong base of services providing the highest level of care. St. John’s has climbed the list in recent years, moving from No. 62 in 1999 to 15th in 2006 and then to No. 1 in 2007.

“Being an integrated health care system allows us to fulfill our mission most effectively by providing high-quality, compassionate health care services and improving the health status of the communities we serve,” says Kim Day, St. John’s Health System President / CEO. “For the patients we serve in the 35 counties in southwest Missouri and northern Arkansas, being an integrated system assist us in enhancing clinical quality, service to our patients and creating a safer environment for patients.”

Versipan, a Chicago-based research firm, has ranked health care networks for 10 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.

Integrated networks, like St. John’s are able to provide patient care in a coordinated manner. Individual hospitals, physicians and other medical facilities form a network to share quality standards, information, expertise and technology that is difficult to provide alone.

This not only helps to reduce the cost of care, but also helps to save lives. A successfully integrated health system has all aspects of health care working together and creates processes that fill in the gaps between care.

“The high level of integration of at St. John’s Health System between physicians, hospitals and health plans has resulted in marked improvement in clinical outcomes especially for patients with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, asthma and congestive heart failure,” Dominic Meldi, MD, St. John’s Health System Board Chairman. Meldi also serves as medical chief of staff at St. John’s Hospital.

In the United States, integration became a powerful trend in the early 1990s, in part stimulated by the discussion about changes in health care delivery. St. John’s became an integrated system in 1994 when Smith-Glynn-Callaway Clinic physicians approached St. John’s and the Sisters of Mercy to become fully integrated.

“We believed we could serve the health care needs better if the organizations were fully integrated,” explains Walter J. Gaska, MD, St. John’s Clinic president, Springfield division. “The integrated model has become a powerful tool in enhancing clinical quality and streamlining patient care.”

“Our physicians and co-workers are what makes St. John’s what it is today and we thank them for their efforts,” Day concludes. “They work tirelessly to provide high-quality and efficient health care to patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

For more information, and to see the top 100 networks, visit www.verispan.com.