FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 25, 2010
 

Two Sisters of Mercy Health System Networks Top

National Integrated Delivery Network Rankings

St. John’s Mercy Health Care in St. Louis, Mo., is No. 2

St. John’s Health System in Springfield, Mo., is No. 3

A key ingredient of health care reform is the ability of health care providers to integrate services and resources in ways that optimize quality, safety and cost savings. Modern Healthcare, a leading national health care magazine, has recognized two Sisters of Mercy Health System (Mercy) networks among the top three integrated delivery networks (IDNs) in the nation, based on their ability to operate as a unified health organization.

St. John’s Mercy Health Care in St. Louis, Mo., ranks No. 2 on this year’s Top 100 IDN list, and St. John’s Health System in Springfield, Mo., is No. 3. The Top 100 IDN results are published in the magazine’s Jan. 25 issue. This year marks the first time in the 13 years that the magazine has reported the IDN survey results that two of the top three networks are part of the same healthcare system.

SDI, a market research firm, evaluates more than 580 integrated delivery networks annually based on their performance in eight categories: overall level of integration, integrated technology, contractual capabilities, outpatient utilization, financial stability, services and access, hospital utilization and physicians.

“Mercy’s high rankings are due to our progress in many areas, but we believe we are particularly strong in physician-hospital collaboration to provide more coordinated care, and in integrated technologies such as our Mercy-wide electronic health record,” said Lynn Britton, Mercy president and CEO. “These activities are evidence of our ability to work across geographic and organizational boundaries to improve the health of the communities we serve.”   

In naming two Mercy IDNs to the Top 100 list, Modern Healthcare lauded Mercy’s ability to achieve value through integration, particularly through its massive electronic health record (EHR) implementation. The article referenced the patient safety, operational efficiencies and cost savings Mercy achieved through a system-wide approach to implementing the EHR:

“That kind of strategy—using the system's scale and internal knowledge base to increase efficiency while implementing an initiative to improve patient safety—was a major reason why the Sisters of Mercy system saw not one but two of its regional health systems finish in the elite top three of the 2010 IDN 100 compiled by health care data firm SDI.

“As new and existing integrated healthcare networks look ahead to the second major wave of expansion in the past 20 years, many experts will be looking for success stories, wary to avoid the mistakes that led to the unraveling of so many of the complex integrated delivery schemes that were formed in the early 1990s.”

                           –“Integrating Success,” Modern Healthcare, Jan. 25, 2010

Mercy’s efforts to create a stronger, more integrated health ministry have been recognized through this survey previously. St. John’s in Springfield has been named in the Top 100 list for more than a decade, and was No. 1 both in 2007 and 2009. St. John’s Mercy in St. Louis joined the list in 2007 at No. 69 and leaped to No. 28 in 2009.

“Mercy has proven that integration is the best way to deliver care,” said Jon Swope, president and CEO of St. John’s Health System in Springfield. “Being an integrated system assists us in enhancing clinical quality, serving our patients and creating a safer environment for patients.”

“I am so proud that the hard work of Mercy co-workers and physicians is being recognized nationally,” said Denny DeNarvaez, senior vice president of regional markets for Mercy and president and CEO of St. John’s Mercy Health Care in St. Louis. “The integrated model is how we can truly succeed in meeting the needs of our communities as we look to the future of health care.”

St. John’s Health System

417-820-2426

Cora.scott@mercy.net

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About St. John’s Mercy Health Care

St. John’s Mercy operates St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, St. John’s Mercy Hospital in Washington, Mo., St. John's Mercy Health Services, St. John’s Mercy Affiliated Physicians and St. John's Mercy Medical Group.

About St. John’s Health System
St. John's is comprised of  St. John's Hospital in Springfield, a 866-bed referral center; five regional hospitals in Lebanon, Aurora, Cassville, Mountain View, and Berryville, Ark.; St. John's Clinic, a 470-physician clinic with 70 locations throughout the region; and St. John's Health Plans, the largest managed care provider in the region.

 

About Sisters of Mercy Health System (Mercy)
The Sisters of Mercy Health System (Mercy) operates hospitals, physician practices, outpatient clinics, health plans and related health and human services in a seven‑state area including Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. Members include 26 acute care hospitals providing more than 4,000 licensed beds, two heart hospitals, a rehabilitation hospital, a managed care subsidiary, physician practices, outpatient care facilities, home health programs, skilled nursing services and long-term care facilities. Services are provided by approximately 36,700 co-workers and 4,600 physicians who are employed or practice at Mercy facilities. Mercy is the 8th largest Catholic healthcare system in the U.S. based on net patient service revenue. It is sponsored by Mercy Health Ministry, an entity established by the Catholic Church to oversee the healing ministry and Catholic identity of Mercy.