STATEWIDE NETWORK CREATES EFFICIENCIES FOR HOSPITALS, AFFILIATES
By Beth Mattson-Teig
Jim Zahnd
For more than a decade now, Iowa Health System has been out to prove that at least one old adage is correct: “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
As the dominant healthcare provider in the state, Des Moines-based Iowa Health System (IHS) provides services to nearly 40 percent of all Iowans. Its network includes 25 hospitals and affiliates that reach all corners of the state and extend into western Illinois and eastern Nebraska.
Yet – back to the old adage – the state’s first and largest integrated healthcare system originated out of a very simple premise: to take advantage of economies of scale.IHS was founded in 1993 when a group of Iowa hospitals joined forces to better compete with the large, national health systems that were beginning to dominate the industry. Recognizing the trend, the hospitals agreed that a collective organization would enable them to achieve a basic mission of providing a homegrown source of affordable healthcare for the state’s residents.“The hospitals began to look at building an integrated network that focused on three key things: IT, managed care contracting, and shared business services or shared capital,” says Jim Zahnd, IHS vice president of public affairs.
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