On December 17, 2013, officials from Madison Memorial Hospital made a public announcement of an affiliation agreement with Salt Lake City-based University of Utah Health Care. The new affiliation agreement is an effort between the two hospitals to collaborate to ensure residents of Madison County and neighboring areas have access to specialists from one of the country’s top academic medical centers. The affiliation agreement is an opportunity for Madison Memorial to build collaborative relationships, establish stronger referral networks and expand service lines. Further benefits include enhanced medical education, and most importantly, the affiliation gives Madison Memorial the ability to treat patients in their home community.
For about a year now, Madison Memorial has had an unofficial affiliation with University of Utah Health Care. The most recent affiliation agreement makes the effort more official as Madison Memorial plans for greater collaboration in the future.
“The vision is to eventually have specialized doctors travel up every so often in order to treat patients in need right here in Madison County. If we can eventually accomplish that, patients will be far less burdened with traveling while in need of treatments,” explains Doug McBride, Director of Public Relations at Madison Memorial Hospital. McBride clarifies that, “Although we do not have specialists coming up to Madison County from Salt Lake at this time, many of our nurses have already begun to be trained by the top medical educational staff at the University of Utah Healthcare. The skills and knowledge that our staff has gained will be of great benefit to the patients in the region.”
Also at the disposal of the staff at Madison Memorial, is the ability to collaborate with specialists at the University of Utah. For example, doctors and nurses treating a patient with severe burn injuries at Madison Memorial will be able to have conferences with burn experts at the University of Utah. Telemedicine, the remote diagnosis and treatment of patients by means of telecommunications technology, will allow patients to receive top medical care for a wide range of medical problems while at Madison Memorial Hospital.
In general, doctors at Madison Memorial Hospital have gladly anticipated this agreement between the two institutions. The agreement will allow doctors to offer some of the best medical attention, diagnosis, and treatment to many of their current patients. The doctors at Madison Memorial are not obligated to collaborate with the University of Utah or any other institution. It is at the doctor’s sole discretion to recommend alternative treatment or a second look from any other medical institution or practice. This control allows the doctors to do what they think is best for their patients.
It is worth noting that the collaboration is not a buyout of any sort. The agreement between the University of Utah Healthcare and Madison Memorial Hospital is a relationship building tool, not a financial exchange. “Patients win, doctors win, and everyone else involved is in a win-win situation with this new agreement. We live in a rural area that has a lot of medical needs that individuals often need to travel for. It is important, especially with the mandatory needs of improving and enhancing healthcare from the affordable care act, that Madison Memorial Hospital does provide the best and most affordable healthcare possible to local residents,” stated McBride.
Partnerships seem to be the future of healthcare as providers look to bring their costs down. Teton Valley Healthcare in Driggs and St. John’s Medical Center in Jackson, Wyo., both have signed similar agreements with the University of Utah. All of these hospitals are also partners with Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center (EIRMC) in Idaho Falls. As Rexburg’s Madison Memorial Hospital takes a step toward further collaboration in medicine, it seems that the local residents of Madison County are the ones to benefit the most from the reduced healthcare costs, reduced healthcare travel required and increased quality of healthcare provided.