Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/170070
62 Sign up for the COMPLIMENTARY Becker's Hospital Review CEO Report & CFO Report E-Weeklies at www.BeckersHospitalReview.com or call (800) 417-2035 rics will allow our physicians to practice at the top of their license and be partners in quality finance. On the specialty side, we are in the process of developing specific quality metrics by specialty that compensation will be tied to. Our goal is to ultimately have almost 30 percent of our physicians' compensation tied to quality and outcomes. Quality-focused culture In addition, we need to make sure the quality metrics we're looking at are aligned with the overall quality goals of the organization and where healthcare is moving from a big picture perspective. We have a robust process where we set quality goals on a yearly basis throughout Catholic Health Partners as a system, and then they are cascaded out to each hospital through our board and the medical executive committees to make sure everybody understands the objectives and to align incentives to ensure the best outcomes. The same types of metrics are utilized in the ambulatory setting. As we move to ACOs, clinical integration quality will be measured not only with the component parts of the organization, but across the entire organization. In the era of ACOs and bundled payments, quality performance standards are a must-have. Successfully incentivizing physicians to improve quality ultimately depends on having a strong culture of quality. In healthcare, all people who deliver care become part of the quality team. Not only physicians, but nursing staff and ancillary staff embrace the fact that quality is our job; it's not just delegated to the quality department. Physicians are a piece of it — an important piece — but developing the structure, the mindsets, the focus and the culture is number one. n Whatever we do to incentivize physicians for quality, we need to do it with a long view in mind. We have to make sure we have the right culture and that through processes and structures we enable people to do the right thing the first time while making it difficult to do something wrong. Imran Andrabi, MD, serves as senior vice president and chief physician executive officer of Toledo, Ohio-based Mercy, part of Catholic Health Partners. He previously served as president and CEO of Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Family Medicine and the American Board of Managed Care Medicine. Hospital & Health System Transactions A letter of intent to affiliate Medford, Ore.based Asante and Ashland (Ore.) Community Hospital was unanimously approved by the Ashland City Council, paving the way for a planned merger. Bamberg County officials in South Carolina are helping to appraise the assets of the shuttered and bankrupt Bamberg County Hospital in preparation for a proposed buyout by Nashville, Tenn.based Hospital Corporation of America. Providence, R.I.-based Care New England Health System and Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island in Pawtucket filed their affiliation agreement and other requisite application materials with the Rhode Island Department of Health, the state attorney general's office and the Federal Trade Commission. Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems announced its fourth-quarter profit more than doubled to $62.6 million, and company executives said they plan to expand CHS even further this year with "three to four targeted hospital acquisitions." The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled Naples, Fla.-based Health Management Associates did not owe restitution to Trinity Hospital of Augusta (Ga.), formerly St. Joseph Hospital, for declining to buy the hospital's assets after publicly announcing it would in 2005. Health Management Associates gained approval from the St. Petersburg, Fla., city council to operate Bayfront Medical Center, part of Health Management's plan to purchase an 80 percent interest in Bayfront Health System. Central Maine HealthCare based in Lewiston has requested a suspension, up to 12 months, on its application to acquire Brunswick, Mainebased Parkview Adventist Medical Center, citing its need to complete a feasibility study of Parkview's services. Kingston, N.Y.-based healthcare system HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley announced the Benedictine Sisters who have controlled Benedictine Hospital, also in Kingston, have agreed to drop the hospital's Catholic affiliation as part of a consolidation effort. Clifton-Fine Hospital in Star Lake, N.Y., announced it would affiliate with Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown, N.Y. Pittsburgh-based health insurer Highmark moved closer to creating its regional health system after the Orphans' Court of Allegheny County approved Highmark's affiliations with West Penn Allegheny Health System in Pittsburgh and Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Jefferson Hills, Pa. Community Health Network and WishardEskenazi Health, both headquartered in Indianapolis, announced they have entered into a partnership agreement with approval from the Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County. Chesterfield, Mo.-based health system Mercy announced Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Festus, Mo., agreed to be acquired in a unanimous vote by the board of directors. New River Medical Center in Monticello, Minn., announced its board of directors have agreed to affiliate formally with St. Cloud, Minn.-based CentraCare Health System. Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare Services and Saint Michael's Medical Center in Newark, N.J., signed a binding asset purchase agreement. Beleaguered 25-bed Scott County Hospital in Scott City, Kan., was granted a four-week extension to reach a deal with potential purchasing company SM Promen of Tennessee. Story County Medical Center in Nevada, Iowa, officially affiliated with Iowa Health – Des Moines, a senior affiliate of Iowa Health System. Akron, Ohio-based Summa Health System and Cincinnati-based Catholic Health Partners approved a letter of intent to create a "strategic partnership," pending final negotiations. Dallas-based hospital chain Tenet Healthcare entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 209bed Emanuel Medical Center in Turlock, Calif. The board of directors at Valley View Regional Hospital in Ada, Okla., agreed to seek a partnership with Chesterfield, Mo.-based Mercy. Wise Regional Health System, based in Decatur, Texas, will sell $19 million in bonds as it looks to purchase the bankrupt North Texas Community Hospital in Bridgeport, after it placed the only bid for the hospital for $20 million.