Reserve Care has ended its joint venture with University Hospitals in a move designed to reduce burdensome transitions of care and improve timely access to hospice.
The hospice and palliative care organization will remain a preferred provider of the hospital system as the two Ohio-based organizations step into the next iteration of their partnership. Reserve Care and University Hospitals provided end-of-life care to thousands of patients during the nearly eight-year joint venture, which dissolves effective Jan. 1, 2027.
The JV created unique opportunities to better reach patients in hospital settings, according to Reserve Care President and CEO Bill Finn. The hospital system and hospice are now seeking new opportunities to improve access to patient-centered care, Finn stated.
“The most important message here is that we have an incredibly healthy, robust and innovative partnership with University Hospitals that continues and is stronger than ever,” Finn told Hospice News. “We’re doing great things together. In doing a joint venture … we found there were some things that got clunky and a little challenging. What we’ve learned is that we don’t want corporate structure to be an impediment to timely, full-service care.”
Reserve Care employed interdisciplinary care staff through its own hospice program and the JV, Finn indicated. Through the JV, the hospice navigated challenges such as alignment of two different payroll systems and two sets of patient charts.
Established roughly 45 years ago, Reserve Care provides adult and pediatric hospice, palliative care, bereavement and caregiver support. The hospice also offers veteran services and specialized care for patients with HIV/AIDS, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and progressive memory impairment conditions.
Formerly Hospice of the Western Reserve in Ohio, the nonprofit rebranded in February and today serves 18 counties the state’s northern region.
The hospice provider is now looking at the “next wave of innovation” in its partnership with University Hospitals and other local health systems, Finn said. Reserve Care is examining the potential to expand its palliative care delivery in emergency departments and other healthcare settings, Finn stated.
The JV with University Hospitals included a unique and specific type of corporate structure, he said. The business components at times created complexities in transitions of care for patients moving from hospitals to inpatient hospice units or community-based settings.
The two organizations pivoted to continue the referral relationship with an aim to lower overall cost of care and improve quality, according to Finn.
“It was just burdensome and difficult to do,” he said. “We realized we didn’t need the corporate structure to achieve our shared goals, which [are] timely admission to hospice, reducing inpatient mortality rates, providing a really strong continuum of care and partnering with the facilities and hospitals in a meaningful way. That’s a real value to a health system. We’re able now to change that in terms of the value-based partnership with the health system [and] how we lower costs, better patient outcomes and satisfaction and give the hospital wins as well.”
Founded in 1866, University Hospitals provides services across 16 counties in northern Ohio. The organization has a network of 21 hospitals, including five joint ventures. The hospital system provides emergency medicine and urgent care, behavioral health, hospice, palliative care and a range of other healthcare services for adults and children.
The hospital system will expand its existing collaborative relationship with Reserve Care following the JV’s dissolution. The organizations are focused on exploring opportunities in community-based serious illness management, palliative and hospice care, according to Dr. Peter Pronovost, chief quality and clinical transformation officer at University Hospitals and president of its Veale HealthCare Transformation Institute.
“University Hospitals remains committed to ensuring our patients and families have access to high-quality hospice and palliative care when they need it,” Pronovost said in a statement. “We value our longstanding relationship with Reserve Care and look forward to continuing our work together in ways that support patient choice, enhance the patient experience and meet the evolving needs of the communities we serve.”
Reserve Care has not ruled out the potential for other partnerships or JVs, Finn indicated. The hospice is working to strengthen care collaboration with other healthcare providers across its geographic service region.
“We take what we learn and carry it forward,” Finn told Hospice News. “We think there are other solutions that might work better with other partners. We’re open to all of that, and the biggest thing is to find out what our partners in care need, what’s important to them and try to deliver on that. We’ll be able to really meet our patients and families’ needs effectively. How do we keep people in control of their care?”
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