The Federal Trade Commission approved the integration proposed by St. Cloud, Minn.-based CentraCare Health and St. Cloud (Minn.) Medical Group, completing year-long discussions between the two organizations.
The organizations began discussions regarding a potential integration in November 2015. Officials said a consent decree has been filed with the FTC describing the transaction. The full integration of the two operations will reportedly be completed in two phases over the next two years.
"The delivery of health care services has been undergoing dramatic changes in recent years, as payers look to reward high quality patient care, including reducing fragmentation of care from different providers," said Scott Rahm, MD, president of St. Cloud Medical Group, in a statement. "As a group of physicians, we began exploring the best way to ensure that we were meeting those changing expectations and delivering the care that our patients need and value. This partnership is the result of that review."
"CentraCare Health has been committed to delivery of what we call the 'Triple Aim': enhancing the patient experience; improving the health of the community; and reducing the overall cost of care," said Ken Holmen, MD, CEO of CentraCare, in a statement. "We already share many patients between CentraCare and St. Cloud Medical Group; this is a great opportunity to ensure that patients in the region receive highly coordinated care of the best quality, provided in the most efficient way."