ImprovIng CommunIty HealtH tHrougH polICy researCH Quality of Care as a Driver of Hospital Consolidation: A Look at Indiana Hospitals

Quality of Care as a Driver of Hospital Consolidation: A Look at Indiana Hospitals Over the past 20 years, the U.S. healthcare system has experienced a rapid increase in hospital consolidation in the form of systems and networks [1]. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) offers hospitals a new incentive to join a system or network. ACA links hospital reimbursement to quality of care provided, making systems and networks financially more attractive because of the opportunities they offer in quality improvement. However, membership in a health system does not guarantee heightened quality, as they face additional challenges in coordinating and improving care. The purpose of this brief is to show how quality will be an important driver for hospital consolidations in the near future. We will discuss opportunities and threats to quality improvement in multi-hospital systems, provide national evidence and use two major Indianapolis health systems to illustrate how quality coordination and quality improvement is being put into action.