AtlantiCare

Sleepy downtown Danville, Pa.,  where Geisinger is based.

This interview with David Feinberg, M.D.,  the chief executive of Geisinger Health System, which serves a  largely rural clientele in Pennsylvania’s coal country, gives a pretty good idea of why, as The Wall Street Journal notes, it has “become a national poster child for the kind of carefully coordinated, data-driven healthcare that experts say one day could right the nation’s troubled medical system, providing better care at lower costs.”

Among other things, the system has long been  a pioneer in the use of electronic medical records and other data, which helps it to avoid unnecessary procedures. That the company also runs an insurance company  gives it an unusual incentives to reduce the number of many procedures.

And look for Geisinger to keep expanding:

“WSJ: Geisinger has been growing in size and scope, in part through merger-and-acquisition activity such as the deal with AtlantiCare health system in New Jersey. What are your plans for future mergers and acquisitions?

“DR. FEINBERG: Our M&A activity is wild. As far as our growth goes, I’m really looking for people that are culturally aligned with where we’re going. I want people or organizations—and AtlantiCare is a great example—that may be at a different place in the journey but believe in the journey around population health, innovation.”