Cleveland Clinic Florida Launches Centers of Excellence Offerings for Employers

Cleveland Clinic Florida is launching its direct-to-employer offerings to include a Musculoskeletal Center of Excellence and Bariatric Center of Excellence. These options help employers manage costs while also providing employees and their covered dependents with access to care at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and Florida. In Florida, the program will begin at the Weston hospital and will eventually expand to other Florida locations.

“We know the effects of access inequality are two-fold — it affects how patients are cared for when sick as well as their future health,” said Conor Delaney, CEO and president of Cleveland Clinic Florida. “These new centers of excellence programs assist in making healthcare accessible and achievable. Our team is dedicated to finding the right options that fit the needs of employees and employers no matter where they are located.”

A critical first step in these programs is the medical record review conducted by an expert Cleveland Clinic Florida surgeon. In some cases, this review results in altering the original treatment plan and patients avoid surgical procedures altogether. This benefits not only the patient but results in cost savings for employers. In addition, depending upon employer coverage, Cleveland Clinic Florida then assists in orchestrating travel arrangements and provides concierge services for program participants. Other benefits include patient navigators who assist in coordinating with home providers and virtual care options.

“When working with employers we have experienced their need, and their constant work, to address inconsistent healthcare quality and rising costs,” said Wesley Wolfe, executive director of Market and Network Services at Cleveland Clinic. “These new innovative centers of excellence aim not only to improve access to care, but help employers add a benefits solution that assists in retaining employees. By offering programs like our centers of excellence, employers give employees access to higher-quality care at a lower-cost.”

Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Spine Health, part of the Neurological Institute plays a vital part in the Musculoskeletal Center of Excellence. An essential part of this new COE includes helping patients with lower-back pain that have received a spine surgery diagnosis. Cleveland Clinic’s group practice physician model ensures there’s no incentive to provide surgical intervention. This means experts work to make certain each patient has the correct diagnosis and treatment plan, resulting in 1 in 8 patients pursing a surgical pathway in the first year. When surgery is absolutely necessary, Center for Spine Health clinicians utilize the most innovative, effective medical and surgical treatments available. It’s why the Neurological Institute performs over 4,000 surgeries annually and is considered an innovative leader in quality and care.

Also involved with the musculoskeletal center of excellence is the Orthopaedic & Rheumatologic Institute, which works to rehabilitate employees through efficient hospital stays and recovery times that allow patients to return to work sooner. Orthopaedic specialists in Florida and Ohio perform more than 8,000 hip and knee replacement surgeries annually with outcomes consistently better than national averages.

As part of the health system’s Bariatric and Metabolic Institute, an American College of Surgeons Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accredited Quality Program, the Bariatric Center of Excellence physicians review the participant’s medical history and diagnosis before determining the correct course of treatment. A patient navigator serves as a single point of contact throughout a patient’s weight loss surgery journey. Cleveland Clinic’s bariatric surgeons perform more than 95% of all procedures with minimally invasive (laparoscopic) techniques, improving patients’ healing and recovery time.

“Providing comprehensive, equitable care for all patients, regardless of where they’re located is a vital part of Cleveland Clinic’s mission,” says Dr. Delaney. “Through thorough, and constant, market evaluations we saw a very real need for these programs in both Ohio and Florida. We’re hopeful these new solutions will combat health disparities and will assist employers in cost savings as we work to provide compassionate care for every patient.”

More information about Cleveland Clinic’s Centers of Excellence is available at clevelandclinic.org/employers.