GE Healthcare announced a deal with the Rhode Island health system Lifespan last week to achieve $182 million in organizational efficiencies over the next six years.
"These relationships allow us to leverage the depth of capabilities, products, and services that we offer, and align it toward driving meaningful change for Lifespan and the community, all while positioning ourselves to continue to evolve our capabilities internally," Helen Stewart, managing principal for GE Healthcare Partners, told HCB News.
As part of the deal, GE will assist Lifespan with improving its patient flow, increasing its capacity for services, reducing wait times, finding inefficiencies and cutting costs.
The organizations' strategy involves a capacity optimization, which will better align departments and service lines, improve processes and optimize space. It also includes evaluating Lifespan's imaging needs and co-designing a workforce management system that suits it.
"[We'll be] optimizing the surgical space to allow more patients access and reduce wait times, improving the organization's ability to make the patients wait times shorter, improving the flow for a patient from admit to discharge, as well as for outpatient experiences, said Stewart.
GE and Lifespan have agreed to a shared-risk model in which they will both be held accountable to achieve certain outcomes throughout the six-year relationship. This is the first risk-sharing model collaboration in Rhode Island and the fifth of its kind in the U.S., according to GE.
