St. Joseph's Health System has embarked on a project to integrate its hospitals with affiliated physicians.

The Orange, Calif.-based health system is contracting with Accenx, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago-based Initiate Systems, Inc., which provides data management solutions for information sharing and improved data quality.

St. Joseph executives said they selected Accenx Exchange because the fully managed, software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform will enable the health system to meet its aggressive timeline without cutting into personnel resources or sacrificing the quality of the integration.

With locations throughout California, New Mexico and Texas, St. Joseph's Health System officials said they were  looking for more than just connectivity, and wanted a partner that could handle the intricacies of an exchange.

"In the past, we have done our own integrations and know the level of complexity it takes to create a quality exchange," said Jeff Allport, St. Joseph's vice president of IT solutions delivery. "We chose Accenx not just for its technology, but for the experience and commitment they bring to their partners. Accenx' SaaS model allows us to support our mission of improving the health of our communities by being able to quickly connect with our physician community, while giving us the flexibility to expand the scope at our own pace."

St. Joseph Health System is an integrated healthcare delivery organization with total revenues of $3.9 billion. The system has more than 24,000 employees and includes 14 hospitals and three home health agencies, as well as hospice care, outpatient services, skilled nursing facilities and physician organizations.