Sentara Healthcare of Norfolk, Va., has been named the top integrated healthcare network in the country, according to the SDI 2011 Top 100 IHNs. This is the 14th year that SDI has ranked healthcare networks on their performance and degree of integration.
With a score of 93.17 out of a possible 100 – 2 points higher than last year – Sentara Healthcare finished at the top for the second year in a row. It's the only IHN to rank in the top 10 of the SDI IHN 100 for all 14 years.
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This year’s top 10 IHNs are:
- Sentara Healthcare, Norfolk, Va.;
- ProMedica Health System, Toldeo, Ohio;
- St John's Health System, Springfield, Mo.;
- Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City, Utah;
- Providence Health & Services, Portland, Ore.;
- St John's Mercy Health Care, Saint Louis;
- Banner Health, Phoenix, Ariz.;
- Multicare, Tacoma, Wash.;
- WellStar Health System, Marietta, Ga.; and
- Advocate Health Care, Oak Brook, Ill.
Overall, IHNs in 2011 showed improvement in total scores across both the top 10 (up an average of 2.1 points) and top 100 (up an average of 3.8 points) compared to last year. All IHNs improved in the eight benchmark categories that are assessed.
“In anticipation of Medicare payment reform, many hospitals, physician groups and health systems are looking into the formation of accountable care organizations,” said Pat Witman, associate product director for healthcare profiling solutions for SDI. “IHNs, with their network of providers already in place, are well-positioned to enter this arena. Six of the IHNs in SDI’s Top 100 and Best of the Rest have already entered partnerships with other healthcare organizations to form ACOs.”
The 2011 edition identifies the top 100 IHNs out of 576 non-specialty, local and regional networks in the United States. In addition to the top 100, SDI publishes the Best of the Rest, a regional ranking of IHNs that did well but could not break into the top 100.
The ratings evaluate each network’s ability to operate as a unified organization in eight categories: Integration, integrated technology, contractual capabilities, outpatient use, financial stability, services and access, hospital use and physicians.
SDI also publishes a benchmark report that allows an IDN to compare its scores in 33 data elements to those of selected competitors as well as average scores broken out by the top 10 or top 100.