CI-Now™ Brings Clinical Integration to Health Care Providers
Lee Sacks, M. D., chief executive officer of Advocate Physician Partners (APP) and Rick Wesslund, chairman of BDC Advisors today announced the formation of CI-Now™, a new company that will assist health care organizations in building and successfully managing a clinically integrated hospital-physician network.
Mount Prospect, IL (Vocus) July 2, 2010
Lee Sacks, M. D., chief executive officer of Advocate Physician Partners (APP) and Rick Wesslund, chairman of BDC Advisors today announced the formation of CI-Now™, a new company that will assist health care organizations in building and successfully managing a clinically integrated hospital-physician network.
The new joint venture will market a set of tools, technologies, best practices and support infrastructure to hospital systems or physician groups seeking to accelerate the design and creation of a clinically integrated network as they begin the work of becoming an Accountable Care Organization (ACO).
“A clinically integrated network is the fundamental backbone of any hospital system or acute care hospital wanting to evolve into an Accountable Care Organization,” said Sacks. “CI-Now™ will enable operationalization of a network – a key strategic step for some systems as competition for contracts heats up.”
The goal of an ACO is to deliver coordinated and efficient care by creating collaboration among hospitals, physician and payers, a design seen by many lawmakers as an important step in health care reform.
Advocate Physician Partners (http://www. advocatehealth. com/app) (APP), is a joint venture between 3,400 plus employed and independent physicians and the Advocate Health Care network, which includes ten hospitals. APP operates as a clinically integrated network and its physician members currently serve nearly 1 million people in Chicagoland. Over the past seven years of operation, the APP network has demonstrated its value to the community through improvement in health outcomes and cost savings created by widespread adoption of evidence-based practices by network physicians.
“Advocate Physician Partners’ success in driving improvement in health care by creating collaboration among hospitals, physicians and payers has made it a leader in demonstrating the value of an integrated provider network for a community,” said Wesslund. “The processes and insights that APP has gained during their seven-year network development can be invaluable to health systems in their journey towards clinical integration and becoming an Accountable Care Organization.”
BDC Advisors is a health care consulting firm that has been working with leading organizations to design and build hospital-physician networks for 20 years.
“BDC has participated in the development of some of the most successful networks in the United States,” said Sacks. ”It has proven its ability to provide organizations with the road map to clinical integration and becoming an Accountable Care Organization.”
CI-Now has offices in Mount Prospect, Ill. and Miami. CI-NOW representatives can be reached at 847-390-3510, or by e-mail at dale(dot)anderson(at)bdcadvisors(dot)com, neal(dot)hogan(at)bdcadvisors(dot)com, or marty(dot)manning(at)advocatehealth(dot)com.
About Advocate Physician Partners (APP)
Advocate Physician Partners (APP), the care management and managed care contracting joint venture between the Advocate Health Care system and more than 3,400 physicians on the medical staffs of the nine Advocate hospitals. Operating as a Clinically Integrated Network (CIN) for the past seven years, APP physician members currently serve nearly 1 million people in greater metropolitan Chicago. Advocate Physician Partners corporate office is located in Mount Prospect, Ill.
About BDC Advisors
BDC Advisors is a national health care consulting firm that has been working with leading organizations to design and build hospital-physician networks for 20 years. Founded in 1991, the firm has offices in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Miami, San Francisco, and Washington DC.
Contact:
Kate Kalthoff
Manager, Communications
Advocate Physician Partners
630-990-5610
###
