Iowa Health System and Methodist Health Services Corporation, Peoria, Illinois, recently announced in a press release that they have signed an agreement making Methodist the eighth senior affiliate of the system.
As the affiliate member, Methodist will work toward providing more resources to serve patients in Central Illinois. Its local leadership team will maintain its responsibility for operations.
“This is a historic moment for Iowa Health System and Methodist,” said Bill Leaver, president and CEO of IHS, in a statement. “It brings together two leaders in health care innovation with a shared commitment to deliver the best outcome for every patient, every time.”
Debbie Simon, interim president and CEO of Methodist Health Services Corporation said, “This was the right decision at the right time. We chose IHS because its model promotes local control so we can continue to make decisions that are best for our patients, community, physicians and employees. At the same time, being a part of IHS gives us the tools and resources we need to better serve our community in an increasingly complex health care environment. We are very excited about the future and look forward to our role in IHS's vision for Illinois.”
With affiliation of Methodist, Iowa Health System has become the fifth largest nondenominational health system in the United States.
Recently, Medicity announced that Iowa Health System will use Medicity health information exchange (HIE) technology to make patient health information securely available to care providers in the communities it serves. Iowa Health System (IHS) is the state's largest integrated health system serving nearly one third of all patients in Iowa.
Medicity's HIE technology will enable physicians at IHS hospitals and clinics to access and exchange patient information in the form of patient summary documents. These documents -- known as continuity of care documents (CCDs) -- provide a consolidated summary of a patient's care history, including medications, allergies, vital signs, care plan, insurance information and more.
Rahul Arora is a HealthTechZone contributor. He has worked as an editor and freelance writer for several reputed organizations in India. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Jennifer Russell
