The Organizations Will Collaborate to Develop an Innovative Health Care Delivery Model to Enable Coordinated Physician and Hospital Care That Meets Health Care Reform Goals
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) and St. Bernardine Medical Center (SBMC) announced today that they have entered into a formal relationship with North American Medical Management California, Inc. (NAMM)/PrimeCare, an organization under the Aveta Inc. family of companies. Their purpose is to address federal health reform mandates well before the established deadlines, allowing ample time to develop and refine the infrastructure for an integrated health care delivery model that will ultimately enable coordination of physician and hospital care throughout Inland Southern California.
“We are proud to be taking the lead, alongside CHW and St. Bernardine, in this collaborative initiative with the region’s physicians and hospitals, in an effort to improve the quality of cost-effective care through better coordination of health services,” stated Dr. Rick Shinto, CEO of NAMM/PrimeCare. “Integrated delivery and shared accountability are looked to as one of the solutions for the challenges that face our health care system today. We are up to that challenge and look forward to designing a system for the Inland Empire that truly benefits this area’s residents and patients.”
“Although we are in the earliest stages of development, we believe we have the right partner to help us challenge assumptions and find better ways of providing care,” said Steve Barron, President of St. Bernardine Medical Center. “It is our goal for this to truly be a regional solution, to be inclusive of existing facilities, IPAs, medical groups and independent physicians that meet quality care guidelines for clinical integration, including those established by CMS-Medicare. The bottom line is for us all to work together to deliver higher-quality, lower-cost health care to our communities. Our organizations are simply taking the lead.”
CHW-SBMC-NAMM/PrimeCare will partner on the design and development of a comprehensive clinical integration model for the Inland Empire. This comes on the heels of CHW’s and SBMC’s announcement on June 2, 2010, of its partnership with Riverside Medical Clinic (RMC) and March Healthcare Development (MHD) for the design and development of a new health care delivery model on the former March Air Force Base site in Moreno Valley. The two partnerships are, in fact, linked together and will begin the process of collaboration between medical groups and hospitals.
“Riverside Medical Clinic and St. Bernardine announced the development of an integrated health care delivery system in our joint press release. This collaboration with NAMM/PrimeCare will link the two physician organizations in a collaborative effort in the formation of the March project and the broader care provided throughout the entire Inland Empire,” stated Dr. Steve Larson, Chairman and CEO of RMC. “This is truly revolutionary in the history of health care delivery in our counties!”
The four organizations envision the planning process to take up to six months and will begin immediately. Dr. Shinto, Barron and Dr. Larson share a common vision and are looking forward to engaging in the process. “For the first time, there is a realistic opportunity to align the incentives of hospitals and physicians in their pursuit of improving access to quality health care for residents of the Inland Empire, and that is a change we welcome,” Barron concluded.
About St. Bernardine Medical Center
Serving the health care needs of the people of the Inland Empire since 1931, St. Bernardine is a highly-regarded 463-bed, nonprofit, tertiary acute care hospital located in San Bernardino, California. The hospital offers a full continuum of services, from family care to heart surgery, treating an average of 62,600 individuals in the Emergency Department, delivering 2,600 babies and admitting more than 17,900 patients for treatment each year. St. Bernardine Medical Center is a member of Catholic Healthcare West. Visit www.StBernardineMedicalCenter.org for additional information.
About Catholic Healthcare West
Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), headquartered in San Francisco, CA, is a system of 40 hospitals and medical centers in California, Arizona, and Nevada. Founded in 1986, it is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health care systems and the largest private hospital system in California. CHW is committed to delivering compassionate, high-quality, affordable health care services with special attention to the poor and underserved. The CHW network of nearly 10,000 physicians and approximately 54,000 employees provides health care services to more than five million people annually. In 2009, CHW provided nearly $1.2 billion in charity care, community benefit, and un-reimbursed patient care. For more information, please visit our website at www.chwHEALTH.org.
About NAMM/PrimeCare
North American Medical Management California, Inc. (NAMM) develops and manages provider networks, offering a full range of services in Southern California to assist physicians and other provider organizations in patient care coordination and business operations. We bring together 14 physician organizations including PrimeCare, Mercy Physicians Medical Group, Coachella Valley Physicians, and Primary Care Associates – a network that includes over 500 primary care physicians and 1,000 specialists serving more than 42,000 senior members and 195,000 commercial members. As part of the Aveta Inc. family of companies (www.aveta.com), NAMM is redefining healthcare management by building innovative provider network models that maximize care coordination in a cost-effective, sustainable way. To learn more, visit www.nammcal.com.
About Riverside Medical Clinic
Founded in 1935, Riverside Medical Clinic is one of the oldest and most successful healthcare organizations in the Inland Empire. Modeled after the Mayo Clinic, the vision was to bring top notch primary and specialty physicians into one group, offering virtually every outpatient service the community might need from a single source. That vision has materialized into the largest private ambulatory healthcare system in the Inland Empire. As the first fully accredited multi-specialty group in the area, Riverside Medical Clinic now serves a community of more than 226,000 with state-of-the-art technology and straight-from-the-heart healthcare. For more information visit www.riversidemedicalclinic.com.
CONTACT:
Catholic Healthcare West
Susan Whitten, 626-744-2291
Vice President, Business and Operational Development
or
North American Medical Management California, Inc./PrimeCare
Leigh Hutchins, 909-605-8000
President/Chief Operating Officer
KEYWORDS: United States North America California
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Health Hospitals Other Health General Health Managed Care
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