Sts. Mary and Elizabeth Hospital in Louisville, Ky., among the first acute care facilities in the nation to launch a hospitalist program, has outsourced that task to a third-party vendor, reports Healthcare Finance News.
The hospital has entered into a pact with Cogent Healthcare of Brentwood, Tenn., to provide support, structure and leadership to its hospitalist program. Cogent, a for-profit venture, manages hospitalist and intensivist programs throughout the U.S. The terms of the pact were not disclosed.
Officials with the hospital, which is the only one serving the South Louisville area, said it was being challenged by cases requiring more complex care.
"With expanding demand for emergency and inpatient services, we recognized a need for greater infrastructure and resources for our hospitalists," said Valerie Briones-Pryor, who manages the facility's hospitalist program.
Cogent officials said the company's "system of care" model would focus on physician performance and provide constant information on the quality of care they are delivering.
For more information:
- read the Healthcare Finance News article
- read the Cogent press release