Cogent Healthcare and Saint Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital Partner in Hospitalist Program

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 4, 2003--Saint Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital, in Jackson, Mississippi, has selected Cogent Healthcare, Inc., one of the nation's leading providers of inpatient management services, to establish a hospitalist program in their facility. Cogent's hospitalist model has been implemented in order to help streamline the delivery of care to hospitalized patients through the use of the company's standardized Best Practices methodology and communication support systems.

"We see Cogent's comprehensive hospitalist model as a way for us to increase overall patient care efficiency," said Tom Herrin, MD, Medical Director of Saint Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital. "This model can help make our operations even more cost-effective while ensuring quality patient care."

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Cogent Healthcare provides hospitals with a comprehensive inpatient management program to improve the quality and continuity of inpatient care management, while increasing patient satisfaction and significantly reducing costs.

According to Ron Greeno, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Cogent Healthcare, "Cogent's communication protocols and Best Practices methodology were developed to assist hospitals, like Saint Dominic-Jackson Memorial in ensuring a high level of quality care while improving cost-effectiveness. Today hospitals face growing demands and we have found throughout the country that our model improves patient throughput, ensures safety and helps decrease readmission rates."

Cogent's model includes an automated communication system in which all members of the care team and the primary care physician continue to be informed about changes in a patient's status. In addition, through comprehensive information technology systems, Cogent records data and monitors results. Once a patient is discharged from the hospital, the care returns to the patient's primary care physician.

"We are proud to be partnering with Saint Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital," said Alan Puzarne, Chief Executive Officer of Cogent Healthcare. "We consider this hospital to be one of the premier facilities in Mississippi and look forward to working together to implement a comprehensive hospitalist model that will benefit the patients, physicians and hospital staff."

For more information about Cogent Healthcare, contact Bill Behnke, 949-399-6038.

About St. Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital

As a subsidiary of St. Dominic Health Services, St. Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital is a 571-bed not-for-profit acute care hospital owned and operated by the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois. Located just off Interstate 55 in Jackson, Mississippi, St. Dominic was established in 1946 when the Dominican Sisters came to Jackson to assume operation of the Jackson Infirmary. Over the years, St. Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital's response to the ever-growing health care needs of the people of Mississippi has positioned St. Dominic as one of the leading not-for-profit hospitals in the Southeast.

Offering a wide range of medical/surgical services, St. Dominic-Jackson Memorial Hospital includes both comprehensive inpatient and outpatient services. From the technically advanced Diagnostic Imaging Services to the dedicated excellence of the Mississippi Heart Institute, St. Dominic remains at the forefront of diagnostic and therapeutic technology.

About Cogent Healthcare, Inc.:

Cogent Healthcare, Inc. (www.cogenthealthcare.com) is a leading provider of services that improve the well being of hospitalized patients while reducing their associated costs through the creation and management of inpatient-based physician networks. Its vision is to improve care and efficiency by reducing variations in care, establishing best practices, identifying and removing barriers to efficient care, and measuring outcomes. To this end, the company provides comprehensive programs in clinical care staffing, communication and data management that support the hospitalist physician in the delivery of inpatient care.

Cogent Healthcare's programs are currently in 13 major markets throughout the United States. More than two years ago, Cogent Healthcare also launched the first Internet-based continuing medical educational program for hospitalist physicians. Its CME programs for physicians, nurses and pharmacists can be accessed at the company's website, www.cogenthealthcare.com.