Chad Aduddell: Strategic partnerships key to industry
The health care industry in central Arkansas faces no shortage of beds or capacity but has work to do when it comes to expanding affordable care to all, according to CHI St. Vincent CEO Chad Aduddell.
“With advancements in outpatient surgery and minimally invasive procedures, patients spend less time in the hospital today, but they still require outstanding, compassionate care throughout their experience,” he says. “Accessibility and timely care are also key. When patients face barriers to receiving care in a timely manner or accessing care at all, it raises the likelihood the same patient will end up in the emergency department later on, resulting in much higher costs and expenditure of resources for both the patient and the hospital than is necessary. This is preventable if we are proactive.”
CHI St. Vincent has relied on strategic partnerships to help meet these needs. Aduddell says they have enabled the health system to provide the resources necessary to achieve successful outcomes.
“We see this mirrored throughout the health care industry right now,” he says. “These partnerships include traditional partners such as other health care providers, physicians and health care systems across Arkansas, but today must also include employers, community or state government, insurance companies and the patients we serve. The message from all stakeholders is clear. Health care costs are rising at an unsustainable rate and the traditional model of delivery does not meet today’s goals of access, transparency and value.”
Partnerships like those in the system’s clinically integrated Arkansas Health Network help deliver the flexibility health care providers need to adapt as populations shift and demands on the industry change.
“We need flexibility to adapt quickly and ensure we continue to care for our communities in the most efficient way possible. Sometimes that may mean working with our health care partners in different ways to keep patients out of the hospital in the first place with advanced models for preventative care,” Aduddell says.
Rather than growing bed counts, Aduddell believes central Arkansas providers should focus on growing partnerships that improve efficiency and help deliver better care. After all, that’s part of the CHI St. Vincent’s 130-year healing ministry, he notes.
“We recognize, though, that times and what the community requires of our health care system change, just as they have changed since that 10-bed infirmary opened in Little Rock back in 1888,” he says.