A community health system in New York plans to use telehealth to expand its patient base and differentiate itself from its high-profile competitors.
The Westchester Medical Center Health Network, a 1,500-bed health system covering some 6,000 square miles over eight counties in and around the Hudson Valley, is building its platform at its Valhalla headquarters in hopes of attracting partnerships with other hospitals, clinics and doctors' groups. The seven-hospital system is a tertiary and quaternary medical facility, deriving much of its revenues from specialty care patients who are referred by other healthcare providers.
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The health system is banking on a 15-year, $500 million technology and consulting services partnership with healthcare IT giant Philips to propel this evolution.
“In order for us to make the large-scale improvements that will truly impact the lives of our patients, we need to think longer term and be able to adapt quickly as technology evolves,” Michael D. Israel, president and CEO of WMCHealth, said in a press release. “Our alliance with Philips not only gives us access to the latest in connected digital health technologies, it will allow us to collaborate on proactive health management and co-create new patient-centered models of care for the Hudson Valley area. Together, we are working to keep the Hudson Valley healthy through a model that supports innovation and transformation in a value-driven environment.”
WMCHealth is facing stiff competition from a number of prominent networks with deep pockets and strong backgrounds in innovation, all encroaching on its traditional patient base. They include New York-Presbyterian, Montefiore and North Shore-LIJ, all of which have acquired smaller hospitals or formed partnerships in the area. Those moves prompted WMCHealth to acquire a once-bankrupt hospital in 2014 and partner with the Bon Secours Health System this year, effectively doubling the system's size.
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But that's not enough, officials say.
“Five years ago, we were Switzerland,” Israel said in a recent Capital New York news story. “We were independent, we didn't own physicians. The model has changed, and if you don't change, you die. We can no longer be an independent institution with everyone around us a competing system.”
The health system needs to build relationships with other health systems, physicians and physician groups, as referrals account for some 30 percent of the system's business, Israel said. That means building up a telehealth program that would make it easier to connect with other providers, as well as clinics, assisted living centers, even homes, and make WMCHealth more attractive than its competitors.
WMCHealth officials say the telehealth platform should improve care coordination and clinical outcomes, while reducing waste and aligning with New York's Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program, which aims to restructure the healthcare delivery system by reinvesting in Medicaid and reducing avoidable hospitalizations by some 25 percent over five years.
“There are so many opportunities to be creative,” Israel said in the Capital New York story. “To be able to glom on to the brain power that Philips has with new products, new systems - it's an incredible opportunity for us.”
“With health systems facing increased pressure and more complex challenges than ever before, and patients starting to take a more active role in their care, we can no longer accept the status quo,” Frans van Houten, CEO of Royal Philips, said in a press release. “Health systems need a dedicated partner that can bring not just technology, but also deep healthcare and consumer expertise, resources and solutions that will help accelerate the transformation of their organization and ecosystem. Our partnership with WMCHealth reinforces our leadership in long-term, strategic collaborations, allowing health systems to expand access to quality care, manage costs and share risk. This allows them to focus on what matters most: delivering better care to the people in their communities.”
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