Survey: Smaller Hospitals See Large Systems Leading the Drive in Health Care Delivery Model Shift

Survey: Smaller Hospitals See Large Systems Leading the Drive in Health Care Delivery Model Shift

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Large hospitals and systems are expected to drive the move toward a new health delivery model in which clinically integrated networks both provide care and insure the patients receiving it, according to new survey data from and the .

The research surveyed community hospital executives and was completed by national health care consultant Kurt Salmon in cooperation with the Community Hospital 100 Leadership & Strategy Conference. It found that 77 percent of respondents see clinical integration initiatives occurring in their markets. Clinical integration was defined as delivering patient care across conditions, providers, settings and time in a safe, timely, patient-focused way that uses health care resources efficiently.

A full 81 percent of the community hospital executives surveyed said they believe clinically integrated networks (CINs) in their markets will either develop their own insurance product or develop one through collaboration with a payer. Throughout the survey, responses from individuals affiliated with large health systems suggested that large systems will drive CIN development; only 18.5 percent of respondents believed hospitals with under 300 beds could develop CINs, and 61 percent see large regional health systems in their markets positioning themselves to own the entire integrated care continuum.

“Community hospitals see the future as one with more partnerships and more information-sharing,” Kurt Salmon senior partner Jeff Hoffman said. “At the same time, most are still uncertain about the impact clinically integrated networks will have on them and how their own roles as community hospitals will change.”

The survey also revealed healthy skepticism from health care executives who navigated the “Integrated Delivery System” era of the early 1990s. “A lot of these efforts and tactics were tried 20 years ago, and they imploded because the market was not ready. In many regions, it was the right strategy, but it was before it’s time,” Hoffman said. “In today’s higher-cost insurance environment, and with the improvement of information systems and data analytics, the time has come to take the next steps to deliver improved quality more efficiently by aligning physicians within clinically integrated networks. Providers that don’t partner and work with their physicians on clinical integration strategies to achieve population health management goals will find themselves shut out of a new paradigm.”

Additional findings include:

A white paper and additional research findings will be available

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Community Hospital 100 is an executive-level conference focused exclusively on the objectives of mid-size, community-based hospitals and health systems. Each year, leadership from across the country gather at CH 100 for three days of networking, meetings and education.

Limited to 100 provider organizations, CH 100 is the premier venue for insights and solutions to the most critical strategic issues influencing hospitals and health systems today.