General Electric : Lifespan and GE Healthcare Put New Plan in Place to Reduce Care Delivery Costs by $182 Million over Six Years

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (December 12, 2017) - Lifespan and GE Healthcare announced today a commitment to improving health care delivery in the Rhode Island region for patients, health care providers and the community. The goal of the collaboration is to increase capacity within the health system while reducing the cost of care. The agreement targets $182 million in organizational efficiencies for Lifespan over the next six years. Under the plan, GE Healthcare will assist Lifespan to improve patient flow, increase capacity for services, decrease wait times, pinpoint inefficiencies, and reduce costs.

'Our mission is Delivering health with care. Therefore, our patients and their families are at the center of every decision we make,' said Timothy J. Babineau, M.D., president and CEO of Lifespan. 'Today, our hospitals are at capacity and the emergency departments are full of patients seeking high-quality care. This collaboration with GE Healthcare will help meet these challenges by providing our health system with unparalleled access to resources, expertise and digital tools. This means our patients will receive care in the most appropriate and efficient setting, even as our volume increases.'

The system-wide initiative includes a capacity optimization strategy that will better align departments and service lines, improve processes and optimize space. Lifespan and GE Healthcare will work together to assess Lifespan's imaging needs and co-design a workforce management system that meets increasing patient demand. Ultimately, the two organizations will ensure the health system has access to the most cutting-edge data analytics and tools to help streamline the patient experience and reduce costs.

'We are excited to collaborate with Lifespan, the leading provider in Rhode Island and a critical contributor to the state's health care ecosystem,' said Helen Stewart, managing principal, GE Healthcare Partners. 'This innovative collaboration will reshape how and when patients are treated and help overcome the challenges that exist within many health systems today.'

Through a shared-risk model that aligns the interests of Lifespan with GE Healthcare, both organizations have agreed to outcomes that must be achieved throughout the six-year relationship. This partnership, a unique collaboration as opposed to a traditional transactional relationship, is GE Healthcare's first risk-sharing model collaboration in Rhode Island and the fifth collaboration of its kind in the U.S.

About Lifespan

Lifespan is a five-partner not-for-profit health system based in Providence, R.I. Formed in 1994, Lifespan includes three teaching hospitals of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University: Rhode Island Hospital and its Hasbro Children's Hospital; The Miriam Hospital; and Bradley Hospital, the nation's first psychiatric hospital for children. It also includes Newport Hospital, a community hospital offering a broad range of health services, and Gateway Healthcare, the state's largest provider of community behavioral health care. Lifespan teaching hospitals are among the top recipients in the country of research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The hospitals received more than $80 million in external research funding in fiscal 2017. All Lifespan-affiliated partners are charitable organizations that depend on support from the community to provide programs and services.

About GE Healthcare

Harnessing data and analytics across hardware, software and biotech, GE Healthcare is the $18 billion healthcare business of GE (NYSE: GE). As a leading provider of medical imaging equipment, with a track record of more than 100 years in the industry and more than 50,000 employees across 100 countries, we transform healthcare by delivering better outcomes for providers and patients. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter or The Pulse for latest news.