by
John W. Mitchell, Senior Correspondent | March 02, 2015
From the March 2015 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
HCBN: What other benefits has your hospital and system realized under the merger with University of Vermont?
SM: We have been able to reduce our purchasing costs by $1 million a year with the improved buying powers of a larger system. We were also able to improve our debt rating and eliminate bond insurance costs. This kind of network expertise gives me the time to serve as the chairman of the New York Hospital Association in 2016.
HCBN: What do you think the future of health care has in store for senior leaders?
SM: Hospital leaders are not going to be able to wait this huge paradigm shift out; the way we deliver and define care is changing. I’m jazzed about the future. The move into value-based purchasing (payments for outcomes rather than quantity) and into population health care management (keeping people healthy through wellness and managing chronic conditions) is a great development.
We’re one of eight CMS Medical Home demonstration projects nationally charged with creating medical homes for patients, which is one of the first steps in providing population health care management. It used to be that anything to do with wellness and prevention was the first thing to get cut from a hospital budget when there was a financial challenge. Now, it’s the first thing that goes into the budget.
Click
here to view the hospital spotlight pictorial of University of Vermont Health Network (NY).
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