General Electric has selected University Hospitals, Cleveland, to provide joint replacement surgery to eligible out-of-state health plan members.
The National Hip and Knee Replacement Centers of Excellence program gives members who live out of the area the option to travel to Northeast Ohio for surgery at UH Case Medical Center or UH Conneaut Medical Center, according to a news release.
With the number of knee and hip replacements performed annually in the United States (currently 500,000 and 175,000, respectively) projected to rise by triple-digit percentages in the next 20 years, employers are seeking partnerships with health care systems for the procedures.
“We are drawing on our experience from participating in Medicare's Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Initiative (BPCI),” said Brent Carson, UH's vice president for managed care and market solutions, in a statement. “We believe that bundling payments encourages collaboration amongst providers, which ultimately lowers cost and improves patient outcomes.”
Including UH Case Medical Center and UH Conneaut Medical Center, the GE National Hip and Knee Replacement Centers of Excellence Program offers its members six nationally recognized facilities to choose from for their surgery.
The bundled payment model links historically separated charges into one fixed price for hospital and physician care associated with the joint replacement procedure.
"This arrangement with GE reinforces UH's commitment to value-based care and to working directly with employers to develop partnerships that are beneficial for everyone involved,” Carson said.
"University Hospitals selected to provide GE health plan members with joint replacement care" originally appeared in Crain's Cleveland Business.
