Community Regional Medical Center Image via CRMC Facebook page

Community Health System has selected national medical group Sound Physicians as a new partner for hospitalist services.

Community said in a statement Friday that it issued a request for proposals after more than a year of quality improvement efforts and feedback from physicians across its system, including hospitalists, to evaluate its existing services. The goal was improving quality metrics and patient outcomes, Community said.

“Sound was the strongest fit,” Danny Davis, Community’s division president of hospitals said in the statement. “It stood out for its clinical data and benchmarking capabilities, physician performance metrics, operational support and experience helping hospitals improve quality outcomes.”

Community said it has long contracted with a third-party physician organization to provide hospitalist services, noting the decision to change partners was “not made lightly” and included careful considerations leading up to finalization.

“We are grateful to our hospitalists, who are valued members of our medical team, and we sincerely hope that many will choose to continue caring for patients in our hospitals,” Davis said.

According to Tennessee-based Sound Physicians, the physician-founded medical group has been providing hospital-based care for over two decades, supporting hospitals in 45 states. The company said its hospital medicine programs emphasize physician-led local teams supported by national clinical resources, data-driven workflows and performance benchmarking designed to improve quality and efficiency.

Messages left with the physician group went unanswered Friday afternoon.

Sound says it staffs more than 186 hospital medicine programs with more than 2,000 clinicians nationwide. The company said that its model focuses on locally led physician teams while providing hospitals with operational support, quality improvement initiatives and shared governance aimed at improving patient outcomes.

Community said its partnership aligns with the provider’s goal of achieving a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, one of the federal government’s highest quality hospital designations.

The transition is scheduled to take effect Sept. 1.