System’s 10th year among nation’s top ten providers

NORFOLK, Va., March 19, 2007 - Verispan recently ranked Sentara Healthcare for the tenth consecutive year in a row as a Top 100 Integrated Healthcare Network (IHN). Verispan's IHN Rating System is the nation's premier rating reviewer for local and regional non-specialty IHNs.

Sentara ranked 5th in the nation based on performance, degree of integration, and clinical success factors. Sentara has been ranked among the nation’s top providers since the Verispan survey began ten years ago.  Based on Verispan's IHN Rating System, each network is evaluated on its ability to operate as a unified organization in each of eight categories: integration, integrated technology, contractual capabilities, outpatient utilization, financial stability, services and access, hospital utilization, and physicians.

“Our goal as an integrated system is to think about patient care across the entire spectrum,” said David Bernd, CEO of Sentara Healthcare.  “We hold ourselves to the highest quality standards with a keen understanding of how our services impact healthcare for patients at the local level.”

“This ranking is a testimony to the hard work and dedication of the entire Sentara team. To excel in all of these critical areas shows that we are making a positive difference and improving the health of the people in our community,” Bernd added.

The study was conducted by Verispan – a health information company based in Yardley, Pennsylvania – and examined 570 health systems around the nation. The annual survey, now in its tenth year, is a primary data source for healthcare systems across the country and allows Verispan to use a standard methodology for collecting data to rate IHNs. 

Optima Health is a service of Sentara.