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Health Care Networks - a City of Care

Posted on: Wednesday, 16 March 2005, 21:00 CST

"As you continue through your job hunt, consider checking out the health care networks which serve your area."

Health care networks "are run like small cities," said Robin Fell, vice president of Workforce Planning and Staffing for Advocate Health Care.

Offering something for every type of employee, Fell explained that in addition to medical personnel, a network is an industry which includes a plethora of non-clinical people as well, with varied departments such as mailrooms, copy centers, legal offices, finance, information technology, post offices, restaurants, cleaning staff, and more.

What is a health care network?

Health care networks are composed of one or more facilities, programs, and possibly additional external pieces, which all work together to provide comprehensive, quality health care (www.tamu.edu).

Of benefit to the medical community, networks provide workable solutions to growing issues and trends, such as cost and competition, and technological advances.

For the population being served, the network can offer quality health care at more reasonable costs. They can also provide a wide range of health care treatments and options under one system.

Advocate Health Care is recognized as the leading integrated health care delivery network in the United States, according to their web site, www.advocatehealthcare.com. This network is "an integrated health care system. We are one company, with one bottom line," said Fell.

The major pieces which comprise Advocate Health Care's network, which formed in 1995, include: 10 hospitals, 3 large physician groups, and the largest privately held home health care organization in Illinois.

Growing into a contemporary health facility

Before 1995, Advocate Health Care consisted of two separate hospital-based systems: Lutheran General, and EHS Health Care.

By the early '90s, these two systems decided to partner up into one network because "they had similar (faith-based) philosophies," Fell said. "And because of the financial dynamics -- there's strength in coming together. The network covers a broader range of care, and could better weather the challenges from the government and insurance, i.e. managed health care."

Advocate Health Care reaches throughout Chicago and most of the suburbs, from Northwest Indiana to the Wisconsin border, and even southwest into Aurora.

"We pretty much have a facility within 10 miles of every suburban area," said Fell, who has worked in Advocate facilities in Downers Grove, Park Ridge, and now in Oak Brook. "And they put me through graduate school. We provide full (tuition) reimbursement. We're very much about development, and keeping people."

The trend certainly appears to be in favor of health care networks, which more and more hospitals and other care facilities are joining.

From Fell's perspective, gleaned after working in this field for over 25 years, there has been a boom of developing health care networks as "during the last 10 to 15 years there was a doomsday thought that independent hospitals were not going to make it. But there are some out there still, which are doing fine. But there's something to be said for banding together, for several reasons."

What this means for employees

"We are a financially stable organization, and we are expanding," said Fell. "We are the second largest private employer in Chicago, and the largest health care employer in Chicago."

Advocate Health Care was even named among Chicago's "25 Best Places to Work" by Chicago Magazine.

Because Advocate is such a large network, one could enter into the organization and spend their entire career working for the network.

"Whether you want to work full-time, part-time, or need to move back and forth," said Fell, "You can work your way up the clinical or management ladder and stay the entire time with one employer."

The payoffs are many, including the fact that the benefits remain consistent and whole, no matter how your job evolves over time.

And there are plenty of opportunities to grow within this organization, as, Fell said, "We are in growth mode. When you look at the demographics, we are still looking at growth in the health care industry through the next 20 years."

Megatrends

As networks continue to compete to provide the best for their clients, employees, and their communities, they are constantly developing and incorporating new methods to provide the highest quality of convenient and accessible service at a reasonable cost.

Much of this development revolves around obtaining the newest medical diagnostic equipment, as well as upgrading record keeping methods.

According to Fell, Advocate Health Care is "one of the most technologically enabled organizations in the country. We (are changing over to) computerized records, or charting, with electronic charts. we are also a national leader in creating E-ICU. An electronic ICU (intensive care unit) is a system in all our hospital ICUs, where nurses and doctors are backed up by nurses and doctors in a command center. It's like having another set of eyes and ears."

As you continue through your job hunt, consider checking out the health care networks which serve your area. Stability, especially in this day and age, is so important, as well as the obvious wealth of opportunities and support provided through the many developing and growing networks such as Advocate Health Care.

- Rachel Baruch Yackley is a Daily Herald Correspondent. If you have an idea for a future health care story or topic, please email: healthcarepulse@@dailyherald.com.

Source: Daily Herald; Arlington Heights, Ill.

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