FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rod Gardner
Publication Specialist
Rod.Gardner@mercy.net
501.622.4513 office 501.276.3838 cell
Contact: Brad Herrick
Director of Community Relations
Brad.Herrick@mercy.net
314-238-4476
Today’s Date: Monday, February 3, 2010
MERCY LEADS REGION IN INTEGRATED HEALTH NETWORKS
Integrated Physicians, Electronic Healthcare Records
Form Cornerstone of Innovative Approach to Health Care
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – While some are awaiting the decisions of legislators when it comes to healthcare reform, Mercy (Sisters of Mercy Health System) is moving rapidly to dramatically change the way health care is delivered in Arkansas and throughout the Midwest region. “Integrated healthcare delivery networks are the model of the future,” said Tim Johnsen, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of St. Joseph’s Mercy Health System in Hot Springs. “Mercy is proving that health care can be easier to access, more integrated and more personal.” Johnsen’s statement came following an announcement that two of Mercy’s healthcare networks, St. John’s Mercy in St. Louis and St. John’s Mercy in Springfield, Mo., were ranked the second and third integrated health networks (IHNs) in the United States by Modern Healthcare magazine and market research firm SDI. This year marks the first time in the 13 years that the magazine has reported the IHN survey results that two of the top three networks are part of the same healthcare system. “This designation is important because it means that Mercy has created an integrated system of care that is working and can be leveraged across boundaries to improve the lives of residents in Hot Springs and surrounding communities,” Johnsen said. Johnsen noted that there are several local initiatives helping to build a strong IHN in the Hot Springs area, including closely integrated physician practices and the recent launch of an electronic health record (EPIC) initiative at St. Joseph’s Mercy. “A key ingredient of healthcare reform is the ability of providers to integrate services and resources in ways that optimize quality, safety and cost savings,” Johnsen said. “As integrated health systems within the same ministry, we are able to create processes and offer coordinated systems of care that fill in the gaps patients may experience in less-integrated organizations. “Through our success in designing and supporting strong integrated delivery systems such as those in St. Louis and Springfield, Mercy is working toward more closely aligning our resources and operations across our entire four-state, 21-hospital system. The objective is to design and deliver a model of care that virtually eliminates organizational and geographic boundaries, and that serves the needs of patients and communities seamlessly. We are one of the few healthcare systems that has established the infrastructure and achieved the level of integration to make this new model of care a reality.” SDI, a market research firm, evaluates more than 580 integrated delivery networks annually based on their performance in eight categories: overall level of integration, integrated technology, contractual capabilities, outpatient utilization, financial stability, services and access, hospital utilization and physicians. “Mercy’s high rankings are due to our progress in many areas, but we believe we are particularly strong in physician-hospital collaboration to provide more coordinated care and in integrated technologies such as our Mercy-wide electronic health record,” said Lynn Britton, Mercy President and CEO. “These activities are evidence of our ability to work across geographic and organizational boundaries to improve the health of the communities we serve.” Mercy’s efforts to create a stronger, more integrated health ministry have been recognized through this survey previously. St. John’s in Springfield has been named in the top 100 list for more than a decade, and was No. 1 both in 2007 and 2009. St. John’s Mercy in St. Louis joined the list in 2007 at No. 69 and leaped to No. 28 in 2009. The Top 100 IHN results were published in Modern Healthcare’s Jan. 25 issue.
A member of the Sisters of Mercy Health System, St. Joseph’s is a not-for-profit Catholic healthcare organization. For more information on the three large-company Gold Awards and Ambassador Award St. Joseph’s Mercy has received at Arkansas Governor’s Work-Life Balance Awards ceremonies over the last four years, as well as services and employment opportunities presently being offered, please visit saintjosephs.com.
