Roper St. Francis Healthcare Signs Agreement with Cogent Healthcare for In-patient Management Services.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

CHARLESTON, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 6, 2004

Roper St. Francis Healthcare is pleased to announce it has signed an agreement with Cogent Healthcare, Inc., a leading provider of inpatient management services, to provide hospitalist services for patients without a physician or patients whose physicians want to utilize the hospitalist program to assist in the care of their own in-patients.

"Hospitalist programs are becoming a popular and highly effective way to improve the quality and efficiency of the care that hospitalized patients receive," says Don Pocock, M.D., Vice President of Medical Affairs for Roper St. Francis Healthcare. "After consideration of our hospital's needs, we have selected Cogent Healthcare to develop our inpatient management program because of their track record in developing 'best practices' for hospital care, improving efficiency and safety of care, and getting high marks in patient and physician satisfaction surveys."

"The Cogent model will allow the hospital to quickly implement a sophisticated program with experienced hospitalist physicians and clinical care coordinators, information and communications, and 'best practices' guidelines for the common hospital diagnosis," said Alan Puzarne, CEO of Cogent. "Through our experience in developing and operating these programs across the country, we have tested and refined all these systems so that they can consistently improve the quality of care in the hospital, enhance the timeliness of care delivery, and improve patient compliance with their treatment regimen at home so that unnecessary hospital readmissions are avoided."

"We look forward to working with Roper St. Francis to provide the more intensive level of care that today's hospital patients need," said Dr. Ron Greeno, Chief Medical Officer of Cogent. "Our program offers cost-effective solutions to the problems faced by community hospitals, such as treating growing numbers of uninsured patients, reducing medical errors, and eliminating slowdowns in the emergency department."

The Cogent model of inpatient care management is based upon a core group of experienced physicians who specialize in the care of hospitalized patients and who are available to the hospital 24 hours a day to attend to the changing needs of the patient. These hospitalist physicians are supported by experienced nurses that manage the administrative tasks, so that the physicians can focus on clinical care.

There are an estimated 6,000 hospitalists in the United States and that number is expected to jump to 25,000 by the end of this decade, according to the Society of Hospital Medicine.

A not-for-profit health care organization, Roper St. Francis Healthcare is known for its high quality healthcare through innovative programs, technologies and practices that produce better outcomes. The 594-bed system comprises more than 25 facilities in three counties. Member hospitals include Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital and Roper Hospital. The organization, which contributes nearly $50 million annually in direct community support, is Charleston's largest private employer with more than 3,800 employees.