Intermountain Healthcare and SCL Health completed their merger in April. In doing so, they formed a $14 billion system, with 33 hospitals spanning seven states.
Contrary to the publicized rationale for most health system mergers, the focus of the transaction wasn’t on limiting expenses, Modern Healthcare reports. Intermountain and SCL combined to build “economies of capability”—adding a health plan to SCL’s operations, helping improve its risk-based arrangements and boosting population health management, said Dan Liljenquist, Intermountain’s senior vice president and chief strategy officer. Health system board members and executives across the country are having similar conversations as they map out regional and national expansions, but their path is muddied by mixed data on post-merger savings. Read more.
