Coastal Medical and Lifespan Sign Letter of Intent to Affiliate

Released 2/6/20 by Coastal Medical

Coastal Medical and Lifespan have signed a Letter of Intent to pursue an affiliation in which Coastal, a large Rhode Island independent primary care provider, would join Lifespan’s comprehensive academic health care system.

“We are proud that our value-based, coordinated care model is at the forefront of primary care medicine and we seek to bring that value to more Rhode Islanders,” said Alan Kurose, M.D., Coastal President and CEO. “Lifespan shares our vision and we see tremendous opportunity together to reach more patients and have a larger positive impact on the health care system.”

The two health care providers share a deep commitment to Rhode Island and to patient-centered innovation. Current conversations about joining together focus on furthering their shared vision of integrated, coordinated patient care that provides patients a holistic care experience across a lifetime.

“Lifespan believes there is great benefit in better unifying health care services in Rhode Island,” said Timothy J. Babineau, M.D., Lifespan President and CEO. “Coastal Medical has set the standard for excellence in primary care nationally and we look forward to bringing that expertise to all of the patients Lifespan serves. There are already relationships and natural synergies between our two organizations, and we share strong values in doing what is best for our patients and communities.”  

The two organizations have a long history of successful collaboration in caring for patients. Signing the Letter of Intent is the first step in a due diligence process as both parties evaluate and design a new relationship to better integrate primary and specialty care and expand services to patients in communities across Rhode Island. A definitive agreement is expected before the end of the year.

With over 125 primary care physicians and advanced practitioners and more than 500 employees at 20 offices around the state, Coastal has consistently earned high marks for delivering the patient-centered, high quality, high value health care to which Rhode Island and the country aspire.  

Coastal Medical is particularly known for its team-based approach to patient care and its focus on improving wellness. With this quality and value focused approach, Coastal has received the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s highest rating possible, while simultaneously lowering the overall cost of care delivery. 

Lifespan, Rhode Island’s first health system, was founded in 1994 by Rhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital. A comprehensive, integrated, academic health system affiliated with The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Lifespan’s present partners also include Rhode Island Hospital’s pediatric division, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Bradley Hospital, Newport Hospital, and Gateway Healthcare.  Lifespan has over 15,000 employees and 1160 beds.

About Coastal Medical 

Coastal Medical is a physician owned and governed primary care driven Accountable Care Organization (ACO) delivering care to 120,000 patients with a team of over 125 providers located in 20 medical offices across Rhode Island. Coastal supports the three-part aim of better care, better health and lower cost and earned an average Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO quality score of 97.5% (2013-2017). Coastal is committed to providing outstanding care to its patients by offering 365-day access to sick visits, developing chronic care management programs for its sickest patients, and building care teams that support its providers in delivering high-quality care. For more information, please visit www.coastalmedical.com. 

About Lifespan 

Lifespan is a five-partner not-for-profit health system based in Providence, R.I. Formed in 1994, Lifespan includes three teaching hospitals of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University: Rhode Island Hospital and its Hasbro Children’s Hospital; The Miriam Hospital; and Bradley Hospital, the nation’s first psychiatric hospital for children. It also includes Newport Hospital, a community hospital offering a broad range of health services, and Gateway Healthcare, the state’s largest provider of community behavioral health care. Lifespan teaching hospitals are among the top recipients in the country of research funding from the National Institutes of Health. The hospitals received $92 million in external research funding in fiscal 2019. All Lifespan-affiliated partners are charitable organizations that depend on support from the community to provide programs and services.