Hospital mergers and acquisitions can be both transformative and complex, requiring careful alignment and integration of systems. In this episode, host Thomas Sauls speaks with Ed Moore, President of UMass Memorial Harrington Hospital, and Eric Alper, Chief Quality and Clinical Informatics Officer at UMass Memorial Health, about the successful acquisition of Harrington Hospital. They share insights into the integration process, from transitioning to a unified electronic health record system to enhancing financial and quality performance while preserving organizational culture and community-focused care.   Guest speakers:Ed Moore President, UMass Memorial – Harrington Hospital   Eric Alper MDChief Quality Officer and Chief Clinical Informatics OfficerUMass Memorial Health   Host:Thomas SaulsFellow, Performance Improvement ProgramsVizient   Links | Resources:Contacting Knowledge on the Go: picollaboratives@vizientinc.com   Show notes: [0:51] Driving forces behind the merger of Harrington Hospital and UMass Memorial [3:05] Aligning the mission and vision as a key reason for the merger [04:51] Preserving the local leadership and culture during the acquisition [7:05] Key operational challenges and strategies used to align hospital systems post-merger[09:10] How patient care improves with data and metrics[10:55] Best practices for ensuring a smooth transition and integration between the two systems[13:13] Improvements to the systems six to twelve months after the merger[15:32] Balancing autonomy with integration—how hospitals can maintain local identity and control[16:50] Examples of how systemness can benefit patients and staff[18:12] Giving up independence and benefits of integrating [19:10] Being entity focused and centralized to deliver across the entire system    Subscribe Today! Apple Podcasts Spotify Android RSS Feed