'Top 100' designation gives edge to Washoe

When Washoe Medical Center was named to the top 100 integrated health networks in the nation, the hospital's executives believe they got an important tool to market the hospital to insurers and others who pay for health care.

"Insurors are looking for coordinated care because it keeps costs down," said Jim Miller, the president and CEO of Washoe Health System, parent company of Washoe Medical Center.

"Their patients aren't lost in the shuffle."

The list of the top 100 integrated health systems was developed by Verispan Corp.Washoe Medical, the only health-care network in Nevada to win the designation, was one of 568 hospital systems nationwide to participate in the assessment.

A key element of the assessment, Miller said, was Washoe Medical's ability to provide a wide range of treatment.

"If it's offered in our area, we do it," he said.

"Our health care system can get patients to the right care at the right time."

The Verispan study notes that highly integrated health-care systems are more profitable as well.

Among the 100 hospitals designated as most integrated in the nation, profit margins averaged 3.4 percent.

Among the 468 hospitals who weren't designated, margins averaged 2 percent.

The Verispan study found, too, that patients stayed an average of 5.1days of the top 100 integrated hospitals compared with 6.06 days at the other health-care systems.

Gayle Hurd, best practices administrator for Washoe Medical Center, said the Verispan study in recent years has placed less emphasis on infrastructure and more on integration of patient care a move that has played to one of Washoe Med's strengths.