Four Delaware-based health systems have formed a statewide strategic partnership in an effort to cut costs and improve quality outcomes.
The four participating organizations are Bayhealth in Dover; Beebe Healthcare in Lewes; Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, and Nanticoke Health Services in Seaford.
They will share and collaborate on an array of best practices, according to a news release. The partnership includes six hospitals and will serve 935,000 residents.
The alliance, called eBrightHealth, initially will focus on developing clinical initiatives that reduce emergency department use and support end-of-life services; limiting waste of unnecessary laboratory and imaging services; enhancing information technology; and grouping purchasing arrangements to share risks.
One clinical outcome the partnership may highlight is reduced readmission rates for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Christiana Care has developed a care plan that has reduced 30-day readmission rates for patients in the last six months from 28% to 18%. The two-hospital system can now share its plan with the other member hospitals.
The health systems will also work together to improve health outcomes for individuals with chronic conditions like diabetes, asthma or heart failure.
All four systems under the alliance will continue to operate independently.
