CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY HOSPITAL INCREASES MARKET SHARE
MARKET OVERVIEW
A full-service, non-profit general acute care facility is located on the Central Coast of California approximately 100 miles south of San Francisco. With approximately 200 licensed/staff beds, this community hospital has evolved over the years and was the first in the country to offer all private rooms. The hospital currently has market dominance in its primary service area, and experiences modest regional draw of patients for a variety of specialized, elective services, such as cardiac, G.I., spine, and oncology, to name a few.
Management selected the Aegis program for many purposes, to include: increasing commercial market share, particularly from outside the hospital’s traditional primary service area in order to offset a growing Medicare payer mix locally; to do something proactive with employers to help them control costs; to develop relationships and open communication channels with employers to better understand and meet their growing needs; and to improve the health status of the community.
EXECUTION
River Ranch Fresh Foods is one of the largest private label produce companies in the Salinas Valley, employing over 1500 workers. It is located near the community hospital’s primary competitor and in a vicinity considered part of their secondary service area. For the last 8 years, the produce giant has had an exclusive contract with the competing facility, effectively eliminating access to the community hospital for their employees and dependents. Upon partnering with Aegis, one of the goals was to capture market share in the surrounding region and agricultural valley area.
RESULTS
The community hospital approached River Ranch with its Working Well Initiative, in partnership with Aegis, to highlight what the hospital was doing for the business community. This program caught the attention of River Ranch Fresh Foods Director of HR Benefits. This resulted in the hospital placing a Health Information Center in the produce company’s cafeteria including them in its ‘Wellness’ lecture series even though the River Ranch employees could not access the community hospital services. Over time and numerous visits, the relationship with grew stronger. During the food company’s annual health plan review, the Director of Human Resources evaluated alternative health plans suggested by, and inclusive of, the community hospital. The River Ranch Director ultimately selected a plan that included the community hospital as part of its network, allowing 5,000 covered lives to access the hospital’s services, a crowning achievement to positively influencing healthy behavior with its community constituency.
Case Studies are published by Aegis Health Group, Brentwood, Tennessee and are intended to highlight the contribution made by the Company in the execution of its proprietary employer development strategy. The information provided in this Case Study is considered confidential and may not be duplicated, in any form, without prior consent of Aegis.