Recent reports highlight the growing trend of independent hospitals forming alliances to improve efficiencies, cut costs and compete with larger health systems.

Several independent hospitals in the Midwest and Southeast are now part of a growing trend in the United States to join alliances for the purpose of coordinating better patient care and controlling costs.

The Columbus Telegram recently reported that hospitals in Nebraska, Bryan Health and Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center, are joining separate alliances to improve services for their patients.

Coordinating care allows doctors and hospitals to reduce costs, improve efficiency and allow for better patient outcomes, he said. That includes fewer hospital admissions and readmissions of patients.

Health care alliances, such as one being formed by Bryan Health, also provide the opportunity for cost savings on shared services. The savings include increasing purchasing power and eliminating redundant practices, according to the Columbus Telegram. Partners in the alliances could even negotiate insurance contracts.

A hospital alliance in Georgia, Stratus Healthcare, is growing since it formed in summer 2013, according to a recent Georgia Health News article.

Ninfa Saunders, president and CEO of Central Georgia Health System, told Georgia Health News that health care reform is driving hospital partnerships. She added that hospital payments are shifting toward quality of services instead of quantity of services.

Health care alliances also provide help for smaller hospitals struggling to stay open and serve patients. With more than half of all hospitals now part of a health care system, according to the Telegram, forming alliances may be one way to help independent hospitals compete and survive.

“I think [Stratus] is moving in the right direction,” David Smith, a consultant with Kearny Street Consulting, told Georgia Health News. “If they can survive the next 18 months, they can have a good future.”