A full-integration merger between two New York City hospitals resulted in better patient outcomes, including lower in-hospital mortality rates, according to a new analysis, HealthExec reports. The results diverge from prior data showing such deals typically drag down quality.
Hospital consolidations have more than doubled since 2009 and most evidence suggests patients suffer as a result, with takeovers often leading to increased overall mortality and readmission rates along with worse patient experience scores.
But this trend did not play out in NYU Langone Health’s full asset merger in 2016 with Lutheran Medical Center, a 450-bed teaching hospital primarily serving patients on Medicare, Medicaid and the uninsured. The move dropped crude mortality rates, stabilized readmissions, improved safety outcomes and yielded higher hospital rankings.
The authors attributed their success to an “uncommon, value-driven” approach unifying both clinical and administrative governance. Read more.
