An Integrated Delivery Network (IDN) is a formal system of providers and sites of care that provides both health care services and a health insurance plan to patients in a defined geographic area. The functionalities included in an IDN vary, but can include acute care, long-term health, specialty clinics, primary care, and home care services—all supporting an owned health plan.

In contrast to other health systems which can serve as a collection of hospitals with similar capabilities, a health system must offer a full set of complementary services to be a true IDN. That said, no trade groups or governmental entities provide a definitive set of criteria for the term “IDN.” As such, select industry sources consider all heavily coordinated hospital systems to be IDNs.