Scott Whalen, Ph.D., FACHE, president and CEO of Saint Vincent Hospital, has a unique perspective on the changes under way in the health-care industry.
As head of Erie’s first hospital, which was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania in 1875 and now a member of the Allegheny Health Network (AHN), Whalen is overseeing a major overhaul as Saint Vincent redesigns its delivery of care to serve changing needs. According to Whalen, over the past five years, Saint Vincent Hospital has been leading the way with its new health-care delivery model, making improvements in how patients receive care from their doctors and specialists.
“We’re really truly moving from a healthcare procedure company to a health company,” Whalen states. “That’s why wellness and prevention, all these changes, are so critically important.”
In the fiercely competitive health-care industry, passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has placed a new emphasis
on payment reform, prevention and population health. The shift is transforming the industry from fee-for-service medicine, paid by the number of visits and tests ordered, to value-based care — high quality care at a lower cost.
Read more in the February 2016 edition of the Business Magazine.
