Three Organizations Honored for Physician Partnership Initiatives

WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Advisory Board Company's Southwind division announced on Tuesday that it has recognized three top-performing health care provider organizations with national awards for innovative partnerships with physicians to deliver higher quality care at lower cost.

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"Health care reform and private payers' increasing push toward accountable care mean that leading health care providers must both align with physicians and achieve system-wide improvements in cost and quality performance," said John Deane, CEO, Southwind.  "These three organizations' work to deepen their collaborative partnerships with physicians makes them national leaders in executing key initiatives for value-based care strategy." 

The awards honored the following providers:

Health First received a Southwind Transformation Award in Health System Integration.  Health First is an integrated, not-for-profit health care delivery network in Brevard County, Florida.  Recognizing that integration would facilitate quality care for the community and position the system for health care reform, Health First acquired Melbourne Internal Medicine Associates (MIMA) to complement its pre-existing medical group. MIMA was a multispecialty group of 118 physicians and 34 midlevel providers at 16 locations.  Despite facing unusual complexities – both Health First and MIMA experienced management turnover during the acquisition process – the common vision for quality community care motivated the parties to close the deal.  Health First utilized an interim team to manage and direct the integration of MIMA and establish physician-led governance.  The integration of Health First and MIMA resulted in the creation of Health First Medical Group, Brevard County's largest multispecialty physician group with 235 physicians across 35 specialties and primary care. 

BayCare Health System also received a Southwind Transformation Award in Health System Integration.  Based in Clearwater, Florida, BayCare had recently employed more multispecialty physician groups.  Recognizing that system cohesiveness is critical in the transition to value-based care, BayCare developed a clinically integrated network of physicians.  The system started the shift toward population health management by establishing patient centered medical homes and improving systemwide care management services to improve care coordination.  In the process, BayCare also overcame structural challenges and earned NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home Level 3 recognition for 65 primary care practice sites. 

Peconic Bay Medical Center (PBMC), on the East End of Long Island in New York, received the Southwind Transformation Award in Cost-Effective Community Care.  Recognizing the threat to hospital margins of the aging population and other forces, PBMC developed a plan to ensure the hospital's financial sustainability, mobilizing a system-wide effort analyzing all departments and divisions to identify improvement opportunities.  The initiative included optimizing care coordination, leadership structure, emergency services, ancillary services, supply chain, perioperative services, and the physician enterprise. These changes resulted in reduced operating costs, improved patient flow, reduced readmission rates, and improved financial stability for PBMC's physician employment program.

The three institutions were selected by a judging panel as award winners from among more than 1,150 consulting and management engagements completed by Southwind.  The Awards were given at the annual Southwind Institute, a senior executive summit in Nashville, Tennessee. 

For more information on Southwind, please visit the Southwind award homepage of the Advisory.com website. 

About Health First
Founded in 1995, Health First is a fully integrated health system.  The not-for-profit employs more than 7,500 people and has four hospitals (including Holmes Regional Medical Center, Palm Bay Hospital, Cape Canaveral Hospital and Viera Hospital).  Health First Health Plans also offers a wide variety of health insurance plan options for Brevard and Indian River Counties.  In addition, Health First is home to Brevard County's only Trauma Center.  Health First Medical Group is the largest multi-specialty physician group on the Space Coast. Health First offers numerous outpatient and wellness services, including four Pro-Health and Fitness Centers.  Visit www.Health-First.org for more information.

About BayCare Health System
BayCare Health System is a leading community-based health system in the Tampa Bay area. Composed of a network of 11 not-for-profit hospitals, outpatient facilities and services such as imaging, lab, behavioral health and home health care, BayCare provides expert medical care throughout a patient's lifetime. With more than 200 access points conveniently located throughout Tampa Bay, BayCare connects patients to a complete range of preventive, diagnostic and treatment services for any health care need.  BayCare's family of hospitals are: Mease Countryside, Mease Dunedin, Morton Plant, Morton Plant North Bay, St. Anthony's, St. Joseph's, St. Joseph's Children's, St. Joseph's Hospital-North, St. Joseph's Women's, South Florida Baptist and Winter Haven.  For more information, go to www.BayCare.org. 

About Peconic Bay Medical Center
Peconic Bay Medical Center is a not-for-profit medical facility committed to providing exceptional care and improving the health of the communities it serves.  Peconic Bay Medical Center offers wide ranging, full-scope services and programs along with state-of-the-art technology.  The award-winning Kanas Center for Advanced Surgery is home to the da Vinci Surgical Robotics Program.  PBMC is a Bariatric Center of Excellence, a designated Stroke Center, and recipient of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines®–Stroke Bronze Quality Achievement Award.  In addition to being the recipient of the Joint Commission Gold Seal of Approval for Total Joint Replacement for Hip and Knee, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Distinction Plus Center for Hip and Knee Replacement, and the Aetna Institute of Quality® for Total Joint Replacement, PBMC has also earned a 5-Star Rating from U.S. News & World Report for Skilled Nursing Facility, which was named one of the nation's highest quality nursing homes.  As a major clinical campus for the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, PBMC hosts graduate medical education programs in Family Medicine and Traditional Internship.  Peconic Bay Medical Center is a member of the East End Health Alliance and affiliated with Stony Brook University Hospital.  For more information, please visit www.pbmchealth.org.

About The Advisory Board Company
The Advisory Board Company is a global research, technology, and consulting firm partnering with 125,000 leaders in 3,700 organizations across health care and higher education. Through its innovative membership model, the firm collaborates with executives and their teams to elevate performance and solve their most pressing challenges.  The company provides strategic guidance, actionable insights, web-based software solutions, and comprehensive implementation and management services.  Southwind is The Advisory Board Company's health care consulting and interim and long-term management services division and its consultants have more than 1,800 years of aggregate experience.  For more information about The Advisory Board Company, visit http://www.advisory.com. 

SOURCE The Advisory Board Company