Two Cincinnati-area systems form integrated network

Two healthcare systems that serve the greater Cincinnati area are joining the fast-growing ranks of large coalitions of providers forming ventures aimed at improving quality and efficiency without merging or acquiring one another's assets.

Englewood, Ky.-based St. Elizabeth Healthcare and Cincinnati-based TriHealth will jointly own a new entity called Healthcare Solutions Network and will contribute the services of their physicians and hospitals while continuing to operate and manage their facilities independently.

Healthcare Solutions Network will coordinate care for patients in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, with special emphasis on an integrated network, population health management, clinical best practices and introduction of a new Medicare Advantage product.

“We recognize healthcare is changing rapidly,” St. Elizabeth Healthcare CEO John Dubis said in a release. “It's imperative to be able to accelerate ways to streamline patient care, improve quality outcomes and help eliminate or lower unnecessary costs. This kind of innovative teamwork is needed to accomplish these goals.”

Dubis and TriHealth CEO John Prout will serve as the co-CEOs of the network as senior management from both organizations collaborate on strategy. For the most part, according to company officials, employees will not see a change in their job responsibilities, but it is possible that the venture will create the need for additional hiring.

This isn't the first time St. Elizabeth and TriHealth, an affiliate of Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives, have worked together. In 1989, the two formed Tri-State Healthcare Laundry to serve the two systems' laundry needs. More recently, they began partnering to coordinate support services for a primary-care initiative awarded by the CMS. And this year, the two joined a narrow-network insurance plan known as Total Care offered by Humana.

Their announcement follows a series of similar ones this year from hospitals and physicians in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Georgia, as well as the BJC Collaborative in St. Louis in October 2012.

Follow Rachel Landen on Twitter: @MHrlanden