Integrated delivery networks or systems (IDN’s) have great potential to help reduce healthcare costs as well as improve efficiency and quality of care.  Labor, not surprisingly is the number one cost, of a healthcare facility. The second largest expense is in supply chain management — the purchasing of inventory, including products, devices, and all the items needed to run a network of healthcare facilities and healthcare providers.  It is clear that the health system’s purchasing director have a clear view of each touchpoint from the final point of consumption through the ordering process all the way back to the dock.

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We’ve noted a few of the integrated delivery systems in the US below, for your perusal, which incorporate many hospitals and numerous sites of care.  Of course, there are many more systems out there and likely many more to come.

Advocate Health Care (Oak Brook, IL) — 13 hospitals. Advocate Health Care was named one of the top 10 U.S. health systems in quality and efficiency by Thomson Reuters in 2009 and 2010. Combined, the systems hospitals have more than 3,000 beds and more than 28,000 employees, as well as partnering with 3,600 physicians on the medical staffs of Advocate hospitals, who are part of the managed care joint venture, Advocate Physician Partners. www.advocateHealth.com

Intermountain Healthcare (Salt Lake City, Utah) — 23 hospitals.  According to SDI Health, Intermountain Healthcare is the fifth most integrated system in the country which comprises a third of all hospitals in Utah. Intermountain was launched with 15 hospitals in 1974 by the Church of Latter Day Saints and currently has over 32,000 employees. This IDN system runs Intermountain Medical Group, which includes over 750 doctors and clinicians, as well as the insurance company SelectHealth, which has approximately 500,000 members. www.IntermountainHealthcare.org

MultiCare Health System (Tacoma, WA) — 4 hospitals.  MultiCare Health System has been part of the top 100 integrated health systems for 11 consecutive years, as well as one of the nation’s most wired systems according to Health IT Magazine in 2013. There are more than 93 locations and over 1,000 physicians on staff, yet it manages to be one of the few health systems in the nation to have a full electronic health record system. www.multicare.org

Sentara Healthcare (Norfolk, VA) — 8 hospitals. Sentara began in 1888 with a mere 25 beds in Norfolk. Currently, it is running on ten years as one of Modern Healthcare’s top integrated healthcare systems and has grown to more than 100 sites of care. They are national leaders in heart and kidney care, stroke care, and infection prevention, and were the first in the nation to pursue and eICU – a remote monitoring system for intensive care. Two of its hospitals, Sentara Norfolk General and Sentara Heart Hospital, rank among the nation’s best heart programs as reported in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals 2010-2011. www.sentara.com

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