Providence St. Joseph Health and three other nonprofit health systems have partnered to launch a company to help health systems and facilities across the U.S. improve the way they operate.
Providence, Baylor Scott & White Health, Memorial Hermann Health System and Novant Health are the founding members of for-profit Longitude Health. They have provided the capital to establish the company and have committed to continue to invest in it over at least the next five years. During that period, Longitude Health will focus on identifying, developing and scaling initiatives that "centralize core operational functions and transform health system performance," according to information from Longitude Health. At this time, the company is not quantifying the startup investment nor the anticipated ongoing investments and reinvestments of the founding members.
The CEOs of each of the founding systems sit on the Longitude Health governing board. Providence's representative is Erik Wexler, who is to become the system's president and CEO in January upon Dr. Rod Hochman's retirement. Paul Mango, a former chief of staff of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and deputy chief of staff for policy for the Department of Health and Human Services, is CEO and a board member of Longitude Health.
Plans call for Longitude Health to draw upon the expertise of its founding health system members to develop innovative approaches so that health care is more affordable and accessible and so that it has better outcomes. The founding members hope that additional organizations will join as investors and collaborators.
Longitude Health will establish subsidiaries focused on different initiatives, such as improving cost, quality, access and patient experience. The company's main activities will include helping clients with business model improvement, performance improvement and enabling the development of new capabilities to generate dollars for reinvestment into patient care. Some of the challenges Longitude Health will help clients address likely will include improving access to specialty pharmacy services, enhancing care coordination for Medicare beneficiaries and improving post-discharge billing procedures.
In a press release, Hochman says that "health systems must transcend traditional care delivery strategies and embrace innovative business models that serve the broader health care community."
To do this, he adds, like-minded organizations must partner to face challenges together and to build new capabilities. He believes such efforts can drive down cost and ensure the sustainability of health care delivery.
"We will lead the change in shaping a brighter future for health care delivery," Hochman says.