National watchdog groups raised questions in a letter (pdf) to the board of Little Rock, Ark.-based University of Arkansas Medical System regarding its proposed affiliation with St. Vincent Health System, also based in Little Rock, which is part of the Catholic Health Initiatives network, according to an Arkansas Times report.
The letter's authors — leaders from MergerWatch, Catholics for Choice and the National Women's Law Center — voiced concern that the result of the public system's joint venture with a religious system would restrict care offered at UAMS facilities, including UAMS Medical Center. UAMS Vice Chancellor for Communications Leslie Taylor responded to the Arkansas Times that any affiliation would not include women's or reproductive services and would preserve UAMS' public identity and mission.
In addition, a memo from UAMS Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer David Miller to IT employees stated his own skepticism of the potential value to the UAMS IT department from such an agreement, saying adopting CHI's health information exchange capability "holds little to no value to UAMS," due to its limited functionality relative to UAMS' own system.
Mr. Miller also raised doubts about a recent Deloitte feasibility report that found a deal could yield between $38 million and $63 million, saying Deloitte representatives told the executive team the estimates "could be off as much as 30 percent or more."
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The letter's authors — leaders from MergerWatch, Catholics for Choice and the National Women's Law Center — voiced concern that the result of the public system's joint venture with a religious system would restrict care offered at UAMS facilities, including UAMS Medical Center. UAMS Vice Chancellor for Communications Leslie Taylor responded to the Arkansas Times that any affiliation would not include women's or reproductive services and would preserve UAMS' public identity and mission.
In addition, a memo from UAMS Vice Chancellor and Chief Information Officer David Miller to IT employees stated his own skepticism of the potential value to the UAMS IT department from such an agreement, saying adopting CHI's health information exchange capability "holds little to no value to UAMS," due to its limited functionality relative to UAMS' own system.
Mr. Miller also raised doubts about a recent Deloitte feasibility report that found a deal could yield between $38 million and $63 million, saying Deloitte representatives told the executive team the estimates "could be off as much as 30 percent or more."
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