As part of the agreement, the hospital's patients will have access to clinical trials, treatment protocols and research programs developed by the Cleveland Clinic, one of the top providers of heart care in the U.S. Susquehanna's clinical staff will have weekly teleconferencing meetings with clinic clinicians and are expected to visit Cleveland to study the academic medical center's operations, including its related work in pharmacy, respiratory therapy and cardiac rehabilitation.
“Collaborations like this are good for patients because they are evidence that their local healthcare provider is striving to provide them with the most advanced care and has a future-looking focus,” Dr. Bruce Lytle, chairman of the Miller Family Heart & Vascular Institute, said in a statement.
The Cleveland-based health system will be paid a fee for the consulting and research services. The spokesman for the clinic declined to provide the financial terms of the multi-year agreements.
The clinic's Heart and Vascular Institute has established similar affiliation agreements with the 486-bed St. Vincent Health Center in Erie and the 220-bed Chester County Hospital in West Chester. Its first heart-care affiliation was with Rochester General in 2003.
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