Five Rural Kansas Health Systems Form Shared Services Organization

Five independent rural Kansas health systems have come together to form Astra Health, a regional healthcare collaboration designed to improve patient care, strengthen access to specialty services, and deliver more affordable healthcare options for employers and communities across Kansas.

Astra Health recently received a regional partnership award as part of the Kansas Rural Health Transformation Plan to develop shared infrastructure and performance metric reporting across the founding members.

Astra Health was founded by LMH Health, Amberwell Health, Newman Regional Health, Salina Regional Health Center, and the University of Kansas Health System. The members say this represents a new model of collaboration among independent health systems committed to preserving local healthcare and local system independence, while leveraging shared resources that no individual organization could efficiently develop on its own.

Initially, Astra Health’s participating hospitals will exchange information and resources to create shared quality metrics, enhanced tools to support care and ultimately decrease costs for patients and employers. This will drive a cooperative effort to identify and define opportunities for enhanced quality and patient experience.

Astra Health is designed to strengthen collaboration across the region while preserving each member organization’s independence, local governance, and commitment to its communities.

By coordinating clinical services, sharing expertise, and developing innovative care models, Astra Health seeks to:

• Improve access to specialty and acute care throughout Kansas

• Allow more patients to receive care in their local communities whenever appropriate

• Lower the total cost of care through coordinated, high-value healthcare delivery

• Develop innovative direct-to-employer healthcare solutions

• Strengthen the long-term sustainability of independent community health systems

LMH Health said the purpose of Astra Health aligns wit its three primary goals: improving its margin, providing an exceptional patient experience and growing access to care.

The goals of the partnership include helping participating hospitals improve quality, share best practices, enhance performance measurement, and strengthen care delivery in the communities they serve.

In addition to improving access, Astra Health will pursue strategies that reduce the overall cost of healthcare. One of its first initiatives will be the development of direct-to-employer health plan solutions.

Astra Health said its efforts would complement and enhance the larger Kansas Clinical Improvement Collaborative (KCIC) network and its participants with management services and investments. Founded in 2016 as part of the University of Kansas Health System Care Collaborative, KCIC is a well-established network throughout Kansas that now includes 51 hospitals across 50 counties. The network of independent rural Kansas hospitals continues to focus on high-quality, efficient care delivery tailored to unique Kansas geographic and market dynamics.

Five Rural Kansas Health Systems Form Shared Services Organization

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