News release from BIDMC
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at BIDMC and Signature Healthcare Corporation have signed a clinical affiliation agreement designed to deliver high-quality, coordinated care to patients in southeastern Massachusetts.
The partnership will give patients access to the best care in the most convenient setting, including access to BIDMC specialists when appropriate. The hospitals will also work together to enhance residency and teaching programs at Signature Healthcare.
“BIDMC’s vision and strategy is a good fit with Signature Healthcare’s mission to deliver exceptional quality, service and compassion to our patients,” said Kim Hollon, Signature Healthcare’s President and CEO. “This mutually beneficial affiliation will provide expanded access to specialty care in our community.”
“We are delighted to be affiliating with Signature Healthcare,” added Kevin Tabb, MD, BIDMC’s President and CEO. “As we expand our network of hospitals and physicians, our goal is to join with organizations that share our philosophy of providing patients with the right care in the right place at the right time.”
Under this agreement, Signature Healthcare will be co-branded as an affiliate of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, which has a growing network of partnerships with community hospitals and physician organizations throughout eastern Massachusetts.
Hollon noted that this affiliation with BIDMC is not a merger or an acquisition, and that Signature Healthcare will remain an independent organization with its own community board and local governance.
The agreement requires review by the new Massachusetts Health Policy Commission, as required under Massachusetts’ 2012 health care reform law. Implementation is pending this review, which is expected to be completed within 60 days.
As part of the agreement, the organizations will work to enhance and expand the range of services offered locally by Signature Healthcare, including the development of clinical programs that may include orthopedics and oncology. They are also exploring bringing clinical research trial capabilities of BIDMC, one of the nation’s preeminent academic medical centers, to the community.
“In this rapidly changing health care environment, it is important to have the system in place to better coordinate care for individuals, wherever they might receive that care, and to think about the entire community,” said Stuart Rosenberg, MD, President and CEO of HMFP at BIDMC. HMFP is the employed physician group at BIDMC, with 800 Harvard Medical School faculty members. “This approach to coordinated care is fundamental to our new relationship with Signature Healthcare.”
BIDMC will also sponsor Signature Healthcare’s transitional year medical residency program and will provide medical and surgical residents at Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital effective July 1, 2013.