Dr. Mark Aldous and Northeast Digestive Health Center are playing an integral part of the recently formed Carolinas Physician Alliance – a clinically integrated network (CIN) formed to help increase access to quality care, improve outcomes and lower health care costs.
The is comprised of nearly 2,300 physicians who will operate in collaboration with Carolinas HealthCare System. The network will promote the use of consistent standards for care delivery, quality tracking and reporting, information sharing and physician collaboration, according to a recent news release.
Initial focus areas will include improving clinical efficiencies, avoiding unnecessary treatments and unplanned readmissions, cost-of-care reductions and chronic disease management such as diabetes, asthma and preventative screenings.
Dr. Aldous was named chair of the physician-led Carolinas Physician Alliance board, which is comprised of equal representation from independent and system physicians. The board will oversee the hiring of the CEO, COO, medical director and other staff, as well as development of contracts and clinical programs.
“By developing a network of like-minded providers who all share the philosophy around putting the quality of care and needs of patients first, we are building a broad network of health care professionals that not only provides excellent care to individuals, but can also impact large, diverse populations,” Dr. Aldous said. “The end result is increased access to quality care, improved outcomes for patients and overall lower health care costs for patients and payers.”
The news release also notes that physician leaders spent more than 700 hours over the past year developing the Carolinas Physician Alliance. A Carolinas HealthCare System team hosted design and development work with physicians in the community to determine the qualities of a CIN that would best fit the needs of the region.
According to the release, CINs can help enhance the quality of care provided to patients by enabling a community of physicians to identify and adopt “best-practice” clinical protocols for various diseases and monitor compliance of the adopted protocols. Formation of the CIN helps ensure patients get the best care and allows physicians to collaborate with each other and develop programs that encourage efforts to improve quality and efficiency.
The network will initially operate in 12 counties around the metro Charlotte area (Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Union, Anson, Stanly, Rowan, Lincoln, Gaston, Cleveland, Iredell) as well as York and Lancaster counties in South Carolina.
Northeast Digestive Health Center joins other charter members of the alliance, including Charlotte Radiology, Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates, Metrolina Nephrology Associates, OrthoCarolina, Southeast Anesthesiology Consultants, Surgical Specialists of Charlotte, emergency medicine physicians and physicians from Carolinas HealthCare System. Additional groups are expected to join over the next several months.
Source: Carolinas Physician Alliance Aligns Region’s Physicians to Improve Quality, Reduce Costs
