QUALITY HEALTH NETWORK
Incorporated in 2004 and fully operational in the fall of 2005, Quality Health Network (“QHN”) is a non-profit collaborative organization founded and initially capitalized by local private organizations: Rocky Mountain Health Plans, Mesa County Physicians-IPA, Hilltop Community Resources, St. Mary’s Hospital and Community Hospital. The organization was founded to optimize the health of Western Coloradoans, improve efficiency and reduce duplication, and improve the satisfaction of patients and providers with the healthcare system. The organization’s focus is to improve the ease, efficiency, and quality of the information hand-off between health care providers when a patient moves between them. The robust and secure exchange of electronic information is critical to the success of the organization’s quality improvement efforts. Healthcare is somewhat unique in the business world today because improving quality in healthcare delivery doesn’t drive costs up (as it typically does in other businesses) – it decreases them. The Grand Junction healthcare community is nationally recognized for its high quality and low costs, and QHN is one “spoke” among many in the “wheel” of local healthcare organizations focused on delivering efficient and high quality care.
Dick Thompson, CEO of Quality Health Network believes that the Grand Junction community is a big reason for the success of QHN. He says, “there is a common passion for improvement from the health care sector here that is unusual. Other places don’t have this same passion. It is enjoyable to work with people who share a common vision and are willing to work towards it and identify the obstacles that prevent improvement and then knock them down to size.” His belief is that the community spirit is what makes it work.
Existing local health care businesses have a history of working to improve the region’s health care and the leadership and collaboration have led Grand Junction to become a “Beacon Community” that other communities are trying to replicate. “We trust each other – that is what started this, and that is what makes us successful” says Thompson.
For more information, read an article by healthdatamanagement.com.