Healthcare Matters

Irving, Texas – Sept. 19, 2012 - Bolstering its commitment to improve its clinical and operational performance,  the NCH Healthcare System, a not-for-profit, two-hospital health system based in Naples, Fla., (715 beds; 650 physicians; dozens of facilities throughout southwest Florida) has joined VHA’s national health care network.  The NCH Healthcare System is regarded as one of the more progressive in the country. It is not only home to an extensive number of service lines, but is also known for its innovative approaches to long term care.

“VHA has the potential to provide NCH with supply chain opportunities to reduce costs while maintaining or improving quality outcomes that NCH might not be able to achieve on its own,” said Allen S. Weiss, MD, president and CEO of NCH. “In addition to membership in VHA, NCH will also be a member of the Upper Midwest Consolidated Service Center, (UMCSC) a VHA-supported network of members who are especially focused on SCM, including their sourcing and contracting practices. For example, members of the UMCSC, like the Mayo Clinic, have successfully collaborated to centralize their sourcing and contracting. They work closely together to identify shared business solutions and other SCM opportunities.

Dr. Weiss also sees VHA IMPERATIV Advantage as a strategic edge for NCH, offering business intelligence to guide improvements in clinical quality and performance.  IMPERATIV is promoted as  a comprehensive integrated solution, providing all members with advisory services, proprietary analytics, other knowledge assets and the ability to more easily collaborate. The insights provided through the program include performance metrics like patient throughput, administrative costs, patient safety, core measures, HCAHPS scores, readmission rates and other areas where VHA has successfully aggregated the underlying data. These data are presented in meaningful context, as IMPERATIV goes out of its way to ensure the benchmarks enable apples to apples comparisons (i.e. statistically similar hospitals).

“With its long history of clinical excellence and commitment to quality care including being recognized as a top hospital by U.S. News and World Report, NCH is a welcome addition to our nationwide network,” said Curt Nonomaque, VHA president and CEO. “We anticipate many opportunities to collaborate with NCH to achieve their vision of being one of America’s top-quality health care organizations, demonstrating exceptional performance supported by strategic cost savings and quality improvement initiatives.”

Source: VHA