An Integrated Healthcare System (IHS) brings together multiple physician offices and sometimes hospitals.

In this assignemnt, you will explore some of the challenges that come about when LiveWell IHS acquires a group of small regional healthcare facilities.

For this assignment, you will need to and complete the worksheet below:

An Integrated healthcare system bringstogether multiple physician offices and sometimeshospitals.

Other healthcare services can be included in the system such as rehabilitative services (physical therapy, occupational therapy), home care services, outpatient surgery centers, pharmacies, ambulance service, durable medical equipment providers, and others.

One challenge associated with this sort of merger is to implement policies and provide a single, common advisory board.

As financial pressures increase in healthcare organizations (hospitals, clinics, physician offices, etc.), more innovative and creative management is needed.

The HIM department involved in integration efforts can be consulted or responsible for:

• Meeting the information needs of internal and external customers

• Revising policies and procedures, creating new policies and procedures.

• Creating health record guidelines.

• Merging coding, billing and collection functions.

Table 1 below contains information about a group of small regional healthcare facilities which were recently acquired by the LiveWellIntegrated Healthcare System (IHS). All facilities are within 45 miles of the St. Louis LiveWell Hospital location (described in Table 2).