"Retta Jacobi stepped onto a metal platform that lifted her to an entrance on the side of a custom-designed semitrailer. Once inside, she lay down on a platform that technicians slid into an MRI machine. Jacobi hoped the scan would help pinpoint the source of the pain in her shoulders. The mobile MRI unit visits Southwest Healthcare Services, the hospital in Bowman, North Dakota, each Wednesday."
"Southwest Healthcare Services and 21 other independent, rural North Dakota hospitals are part of the Rough Rider Network, which used its members' combined patient rolls to negotiate better prices for the mobile imaging truck. Independent rural hospitals are increasingly joining what are called clinically integrated networks, collaborative groups that allow them to avoid selling out to larger health systems while sharing resources to save money and improve patient care."
Independent rural hospitals are joining clinically integrated networks to share services, reduce costs, and preserve local autonomy. The Rough Rider Network pooled patient rolls from 22 hospitals to negotiate better pricing for a mobile MRI unit that serves remote communities. Mobile imaging reduces travel time for patients and enables small hospitals to offer expensive services they otherwise could not afford. Networks allow hospitals to combine patient populations to pursue value-based care contracts that tie reimbursement to quality and health outcomes. Supporters are exploring use of Rural Health Transformation Program funding to start or expand such networks as an alternative to closures or acquisitions.
Read at www.npr.org
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