"What has emerged, more and more, are atypical relationships that aren't focused on ownership; they're focused on leveraging the strength of our partners," says one senior executive.
This article appears in the October 2015 issue of HealthLeaders magazine.
For health systems across the country, clinical affiliations have emerged as an attractive alternative to mergers and acquisitions, which come with ownership stakes attached.
Most health system clinical affiliations feature relationships with local medical service providers that help the hospital group cost-effectively fill gaps in the organization's care continuum, such as partnerships with independent urgent care centers. Junior partners gain several financially related benefits from health system clinical affiliations, including service volume growth and the ability to maintain most, if not all, of their independence.
"There is a tremendous amount of potential from partnerships," says Thomas Blincoe, executive director of outreach for The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and executive director of Ohio State Health Network, a regional affiliation of 15 community hospitals centered around Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. "What has emerged, more and more, are atypical relationships that aren't focused on ownership; they're focused on leveraging the strength of our partners."
For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015, OSU Wexner Medical Center posted total gross revenues of $7.3 billion.
Christopher Cheney is the CMO editor at HealthLeaders.