Cheaper Surgery Sends Lowe’s Flying to Cleveland Clinic

[FarCenter]

When Travis Bumbaugh needed heart surgery, the Pennsylvania general contractor chose the cheapest option in the Lowe’s Cos. (LOW) health plan. He flew to Cleveland, to one of the top-rated heart hospitals in the nation.

By bundling all costs for the surgery under one negotiated price and offering expertise that lowers the odds of complications, the Cleveland Clinic gave Bumbaugh and his employer a better deal than the hospital close to his home. In some cases, hospitals will drop their prices as much as 40 percent to guarantee a steady stream of patients they wouldn’t have otherwise, said Terry White, president of the BridgeHealth Medical Inc., a Denver-based benefit manager.

To encourage employees, Lowe’s covers the full cost of surgery, as well as travel and lodging for the worker and a relative. The company health plan won’t cover thousands of dollars of unbundled costs at local hospitals.

“It’s a win-win-win” for patients, employers and the hospital, said Michael McMillan, Cleveland Clinic’s executive director of market and network services. “The patient has no out-of-pocket responsibility, employers have a better long-term financial result and we get patients.”

...

Only 3 to 4 percent of travel surgery patients at the Cleveland Clinic have been readmitted in the last three years, said spokeswoman Heather Phillips. The Clinic tracks patients after they go home, allowing them to count readmissions to any hospital afterward, she said. Nationally, the average readmissions rate for heart surgeries is 9 to 13 percent, according to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

...

“One thing that really struck me about Cleveland was that their mortality rate was less than 1 percent,” he said in a telephone interview. “Everything else I was seeing was 1 to 2 percent higher, which is not a lot ... but still.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-07/cheaper-surgery-sends-lowe-s-flying-to-cleveland-clinic.html

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Our own WCGreen had his lung transplant surgery there.

Partly because of results like these.

When you undergo life-threatening surgery, you would do well to choose a place that improves your odds this much.

K&R

[awoke_in_2003]

2. If I had to have heart surgery...

and could go anywhere, it would be Cleveland Clinic.

[jaysunb]

3. My oldest daughter has worked there for 20+

years. CC along w/ the University Hospitals are largely responsible for bringing Cleveland back from collapse to one of the leading health care centers in the world.

Proud Dad !

[nilram]

4. Interesting that the lowest cost provider is also one of the top hospitals.

[FarCenter]

6. Fixed costs get spread out over a high number of operations + practice makes perfect

[nilram]

8. Although I don't like being channeled into a particular doc, this seems like a win-win.

I'd like to go have an exam at Cleveland Clinic for my particular (odd) ailment, with insurance picking up the travel costs. As it stands, um, no. Maybe they'll pick up some of the exam costs.

[spanone]

5. k&r...

[Scuba]

7. Cleveland Clinic has a reputation for clinical excellence throughout the industry. One factor ...

... that no doubt plays into their positive outcomes is the volume of surgeries done.

A surgeon who performs many procedures becomes increacingly adept at his/her craft, just like with any other endeavor. Similarly, experienced cardiac nurses, pharmacists and other clinicians offer advantages over otherwise perfectly competent staff who don't care for enough cardiac cases to truly polish their skills.

Yet the bottom line is that the Cleveland Clinic's ability manage their costs is what enables them to price their services so competitively.

They do this by having better trained staff with greater experience. A lesson in the value of workers.