The North Country Initiative — or “NCI” for short — is a partnership of hospitals, independent physicians and specialty care, behavioral health, and community based organizations working together to reform the healthcare system across northern New York’s Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.

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With the healthcare system undergoing change at both state and national levels, we are working together to align incentives across our rural region, create clinical programs and develop necessary health technology infrastructure. We find that cooperating on all of these strategies will improve the health of our community, reduce the cost of healthcare and improve care for patients.

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Much of our everyday work is grounded in working toward three key goals:

• Aligning health system partners with payers to drive clinical improvement and add value to patients

• Implementing evidence-based, data-informed care to enhance patient outcomes

• Responsibly stweard the cost of patient care by promoting the right care, at the right place, at the right time