Mercy and Summa will spend more than $100 million over three years

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Mercy Health and Summa Health, two Ohio health systems, are jointly creating Advanced Health Select, the largest clinically integrated network in Ohio.

Mercy Health Select and NewHealth Collaborative, the accountable care organizations or ACOs operated by Mercy and Summa, will be the first provider networks to join Advanced Health Select, which will link more than 2,800 providers in Ohio and Kentucky into a single network to improve chronic- care management and lower the total cost of care for patients and communities.

“Combining the strengths of Mercy Health Select and NewHealth Collaborative puts us at the forefront of health care transformation,” said Michael D. Connelly, president and chief executive officer of Mercy Health.

“Together, we will provide patients with the same quality care they always have received from us, but also optimize cutting-edge services such as care coordination and advanced data analytics to improve that care,” Connelly said.

By investing more than $100 million over three years in AHS, Mercy Health and Summa Health are creating solutions that include care coordination at every point in a patient’s health care journey. Advanced data analytics and technology support will make it more sustainable, efficient and effective than other partnerships around the country, Connelly said.

Employers, insurers and health systems looking for more value from their health care investment will benefit from the services provided by AHS, as well as the opportunity to partner with Ohio’s leading provider networks to make patients’ lives better and improve the health of Ohio communities.

For communities, Advanced Health Select will offer a new approach to health care embracing the “Triple Aim” – better care and better community health, at lower cost, said Dr. Mark Terpylak, D.O., president of NewHealth Collaborative.

NewHealth Collaborative and Mercy Health Select have proved that they can integrate care to provide better quality at lower cost, he said.

They were the only two ACOs in Ohio to achieve shared savings for Medicare under the Medicare Shared Savings Program in 2014. Combined, they saved more than $25 million for the Medicare program while improving care quality for more than 100,000 patients in Ohio,” Dr. Terpylak said.

Dr. Brent Asplin, chief clinical officer at Mercy Health and co-president of Mercy Health Select, will be president of Advanced Health Select. He will also be a founding member of the board of managers.