Showing posts with label Tennessee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tennessee. Show all posts

Monday, July 16, 2012

TriStar Health and CareSpot to Establish Urgent Care Centers in Middle Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn., July 16, 2012  /PRNewswire/ -- HCA's TriStar Health and CareSpot have established a joint venture to bring as many as 15 urgent care centers to Middle Tennessee opening throughout 2013. The new partnership would make CareSpot and TriStar Health the leading urgent care provider in Middle Tennessee.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120716/AT40849LOGO )

Convenient, high-quality healthcare

"Urgent care is an important aspect of TriStar's vision to provide our community with a quality, comprehensive health system," said Steve Corbeil, president of TriStar Health. "The new urgent care centers will enhance healthcare services provided by our primary care physicians and deliver a more rapid, less expensive alternative to emergency room visits for non-emergency injuries and illnesses. Our partnership represents a significant step forward in bringing increased access to extraordinary and affordable healthcare in the communities that we serve."

"Our joint venture with TriStar Health is an exciting opportunity to partner with a well-known, high-quality healthcare provider in Middle Tennessee, expand our base beyond Florida and move into other markets where there is strong demand for urgent care centers," said CareSpot CEO Michael Klein. "Customers want more convenient, high-quality healthcare, and that's what we'll deliver. In fact, customers will be able to book their appointments on the CareSpot website or their smartphones and get in and get out faster so they can start feeling better quickly."

The new urgent care centers will offer healthcare services to treat non-emergent medical problems that can develop unexpectedly and require immediate attention, filling the gap between primary care physicians and hospital emergency rooms.   This partnership offers patients the staffing benefits and expertise of a proven network of urgent care centers combined with the broader resources of a large hospital system if a higher level of care is required.   The new centers will operate as CareSpot in partnership with TriStar Health. CareSpot will manage daily operations.

CareSpot is the largest urgent care provider in Florida

CareSpot is the new name for Solantic walk-in urgent care centers that are popular in Florida. The company, which has headquarters in the Brentwood suburb of Nashville, is the largest urgent care provider in Florida with 29 centers in major metropolitan areas throughout that state. Those centers in Florida — which average more than 400,000 patient visits a year — will change their name from Solantic to CareSpot by early September. The urgent care company currently employs more than 500 people. CareSpot plans to hire as many as 100 new employees for its new centers in Middle Tennessee.

About TriStar Health

TriStar Health is the region's largest, most comprehensive healthcare provider with 18 hospitals and 10 ambulatory surgery centers in Tennessee, South Central Kentucky and North Georgia. Approximately 5,300 physicians and nearly 13,000 employees support the hospital system. TriStar Health facilities feature state-of-the-art technology and pioneer new medical procedures every day to accommodate the needs of the more than 110,000 patient admissions and nearly 515,000 emergency department visits annually. For more information about TriStar Health, or for a physician referral, call TriStar MedLine(SM) at 615-342-1919 or toll-free outside of Nashville at 1-800-242-5662, or visit TriStarHealth.com.

About Solantic/CareSpot

Solantic/CareSpot-operated centers provide a wide range of healthcare services such as urgent care, wellness testing and occupational health services. The 3,500 sq. ft. centers feature multiple exam rooms, on-site lab testing and X-rays capabilities. Michael Klein, former CEO of Franklin, Tenn.-based Renal Advantage — the third-largest for-profit provider of dialysis services in the U.S. — took over as CEO of Solantic in May 2011. He and his management team are building a more innovative, consumer-focused urgent care company. Visit Solantic.com to learn more.


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Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Health Information Partnership for Tennessee Winds Down Operations

NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Health Information Partnership for Tennessee (HIP TN), an organization created three years ago by providers, payers, consumers and other stakeholders to assist Tennessee in creating a statewide health information exchange (HIE), is planning to wind down operations.

The HIP TN Board voted on June 15 to begin wind down activities after meeting with state officials.

“Given the evolution of HIE across the country, HIP TN’s board of directors decided the best step was to allow the state to operate from a clean slate,” said Dr. Reginald Coopwood, chairman of HIP TN’s board. “We hope the work conducted thus far has been valuable and will provide insight if others plan to implement state-wide HIE in the future.”

HIP TN formed in 2009 to create a statewide health information exchange that would serve as a network of networks for Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIOs) in Tennessee. The state contracted with HIP TN to provide the infrastructure for the exchange. While HIP TN will no longer be responsible for implementing an intrastate HIE in Tennessee, HIE efforts across the state will continue. Specifically, three (RHIOs) within Tennessee are playing a role in health information exchange. The RHIOs are expected to continue securely sharing health information.

“Hundreds of volunteers representing stakeholders from across the healthcare spectrum have contributed countless hours to identifying the healthcare information that needs to be exchanged and developing policies and a framework to exchange that information,” Dr. Coopwood continued. “We’re grateful for their hard work and dedication to HIE.”

There are three RHIOs in Tennessee: MidSouth eHealth Alliance (MSeHA), Middle Tennessee eHealth Connect (MTeHC) and East Tennessee Health Information Network (etHIN).

“The members of the HIP TN Board, and the organizations they represent, believe that secure health information exchange—in the form of electronic health records and other information—will benefit the quality of health care in Tennessee. The board’s vision for a health information exchange network in Tennessee remains, and we hope that vision can be realized down the road,” said Dr. Coopwood.

For more information, go to www.hiptn.org.


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