Huntington, W. Va.-based Mountain Health Network and Charleston (W. Va.) Area Medical Center have announced an affiliation agreement, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail.
The agreement will promote joint physician training programs and is necessary for the two organizations to share patient data that can help population health efforts.
"Particularly in the healthcare world, we have a lot of protected data and proprietary information," said Lisa Chamberlin, vice president of strategic marketing, planning and business development at Cabell Huntington Hospital, a part of the Mountain Health Network . "Affiliation agreements must be in place to ensure even if the simplest discussions occur, so that there’s no antitrust and no concern about information being inappropriately shared."