Beth Jones Sanborn
The deal is a milestone for the South Carolina public health system, as it is the first time MUSC has acquired other hospitals.
The program used electronic "nudges" to clinical staff to forgo overnight vitals and medications as well as clinical staff education on improving patient sleep.
No estimated date of completion for the deal was revealed, but the newly-combined system would be known as Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health GraniteOne.
Massive gaps leave practices more dependent on reimbursement from commercial payers and commercial contracts, raise the potential of shrinking number of Medicare patients accepted.
Two cases emerged from whistleblower claims about improper billing related to discounted drug prices and insulin pens.
Hospitals named in the suit include Vanderbilt Medical Center, Atrium Health, Rush University Medical Center, Ochsner Clinic Foundation and Montefiore Health System.
Expansion will be located within the current MGH campus and will include a 12-story pair of connected towers; funding efforts are already underway.
The system's equipment sharing program saved $500,000 in its first year but Ronald Loo, who came up with the idea, said it's become about much more than the money.
The two systems have signed a non-binding letter of intent and due diligence is expected to take several months.
Average total spend per hospital admission rose 18.5 percent between FYs 2015 and 2017, spawning roughly $1.8 million in new spending, study says.