For several years now, hospitals have been merging to streamline operations and enjoy better buying power through volume. As a result, it is rare to find stand-alone hospitals in different parts of the world. Instead, most hospitals are now part of a bigger hospital group or health system.

A health system is a group of affiliated doctors, hospitals, and facilities, organized together under one parent company. A new type of health plan designed around integrated health care systems is the perfect way to leverage the health system model to reduce costs and improve patient outcomes.

You may already be wondering how this even works in the first place. In a nutshell, employees in employer-sponsored plans can choose between multiple health systems available to them in an open environment. Likewise, families can also decide to join a system that best meets their preferences.

To pull this off hassle-free, it is vital to factor in cost, quality, location, availability of medical practitioners, and more. Then, once you choose a system that best fits your preferences, you'll receive all of your medical care from the chosen health system for the plan year. Remember, integrated health care systems help cut costs to attract members and their families' healthcare dollars.

It doesn't stop at that since integrated health care systems for patients mean all doctors have access to the duplicate electronic medical records that give them insights into the patient. Furthermore, there's less paperwork that patients have to do at any time.

Employees get to pay less out of their paycheck for their medical benefits by opting to build health plans around integrated health care systems. As a result, employers offer more choices and better places at lower costs, while doctors coordinate care better.

Integrated health care systems play a vital role in helping shape the health sector for the better. And this is easy to see why if the numerous benefits they offer are anything to go with. Please keep in mind health systems that perform effectively keep members and their families in their delivery system.

To cut a long story short, there is a broad spectrum of models for health systems integration. Either way, much more needs to be learned about specific structures and mechanisms for success in integrated health care systems implementation and integration.