Members of the New England Alliance for Health (NEAH), in partnership with Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s Department of Pathology, are exploring the concept of a coordinated regional laboratory model, working to reduce lab costs, improve standardization and test utilization, and maintain high-quality lab services for patients around the region.
Three area critical access hospitals ‘ Mt Ascutney Hospital & Health Center in Windsor, VT; New London Hospital; and Valley Regional Hospital in Claremont ‘ have signed on to pilot the project. Under the plan, Dartmouth-Hitchcock will centralize routine outpatient clinical laboratory services; participating hospitals would retain their current surgical pathology arrangements, including the ability to perform stat outpatient and inpatient laboratory testing, and blood bank testing.
Early in 2013, the leadership of several NEAH-member institutions approached the Department of Pathology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, to explore the concept of a regional lab model. A feasibility study conducted by Dartmouth-Hitchcock Pathology, in cooperation with other Upper Valley hospital lab managers, showed that hospitals in the pilot could significantly reduce the cost of producing laboratory tests under a regional lab model.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock already performs a number of clinical lab functions for some NEAH hospitals, including routine automated outpatient testing and ‘send out’ testing.
‘It’s not an option for health care organizations to work in individual silos. Instead, we need to come together to strengthen public health in our region and better manage costs,’ said New London Hospital President and CEO Bruce King. ‘We at New London Hospital have long recognized the positive impacts of partnering with our NEAH member organizations, and we want to continue these collaborations. We are proud to be one of the first critical access hospitals to participate in this new regional laboratory model with Dartmouth-Hitchcock.’
‘ Each of the three hospitals participating with Dartmouth-Hitchcock will develop its own project plan timeline, dependent on individual needs and readiness of each institution. It is expected that the first test specimens will be sent to Dartmouth-Hitchcock for processing in spring or early summer of 2014.
‘Our responsibility to our patients, staff and community is to collaborate across the region as a means to ensure we continue to transform the healthcare system, to provide the highest quality and greatest value in the most sustainable way,’ said Valley Regional Hospital President and CEO Peter Wright, FACHE. ‘This project is a great example of that kind of collaboration. It is complicated and will take time to implement, but in the end it is the right thing to do and we are excited to be part of this regional team.’
For patients there will be, essentially, no logistical changes. Patients will continue to have blood drawn at their local hospital or physician practice; they will be billed by their local provider; and results and treatment will still be provided locally.
‘We are excited about the opportunity to improve lab standardization and quality without interrupting the local patient experience,’ said Mt. Ascutney Hospital CEO Kevin Donovan.’ ‘ ‘A regional laboratory program increases organizational collaboration and allows patients to be cared for close to home.’
‘This collaboration advances two very important goals in our work to create a sustainable health system for the region: lower costs and higher quality,’ said Dartmouth-Hitchcock CEO and President Dr. James Weinstein. ‘By pooling our resources we’ will, most importantly,’ improve’ service and value to the patients and families we serve’ while helping our regional partners lower their costs to deliver these important services.’
Specific details of the model are still under discussion, but significant savings are projected under a regional model. Exactly what those savings are may vary from institution to institution, but collaborations such as these are seen as another way to advance the goal of reducing the cost of health care.
ABOUT THE NEW ENGLAND ALLIANCE FOR HEALTH: New England Alliance for Health (NEAH) is’ a group of community hospitals and other health care agencies that share a commitment to improve the quality, efficiency, and availability of health care in New Hampshire, Vermont, and western Massachusetts. NEAH members share knowledge, resources, and solutions to challenging healthcare issues. In local communities, the organizations treat illness and improve wellness, and work with tax-exempt charitable healthcare organizations in thoughtful, patient focused collaboration to improve patient care systems and the health status of all communities in the region.