Cleveland Clinic Responds to Increased Global Demand for Quality Healthcare by Launching Cleveland Clinic Connected

Cleveland Clinic has launched a robust program of collaborative support to enable hospitals and healthcare organizations around the world to connect with the global health system’s clinical and operational experts to enhance patient care and distinguish themselves within their markets.

The goal of the Cleveland Clinic Connected program is to build a global network of independent, like-minded, quality-focused organizations that have a positive impact on patient care. Experts from Cleveland Clinic will work with hospitals and health systems to ensure the highest standards of patient care delivery, enhancing operational efficiencies and supporting the professional development and education of clinical and non-clinical staff.

“Cleveland Clinic Connected will allow us to share our expertise in quality, safety and patient experience to reach more people across the globe,” said Tom Mihaljevic, M.D., CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic. “We have a responsibility to bring the best care to patients — regardless of where they live — because everyone deserves high quality healthcare. By working with hospitals and health systems aligned with our mission, we can take steps to honor that commitment.”

Physicians at member institutions will be able to request secondary assessments of complex cases through physician-to-physician consultations with any of Cleveland Clinic’s 6,000 experts. In addition, member institutions can access the Cleveland Clinic’s continuous quality improvement and advisory services, plus education and training including clinical observership programs. The knowledge transfer will be tailored to the priorities and needs of member institutions with non-clinical education opportunities available for administrative and operations staff.

James Merlino, M.D., Cleveland Clinic’s Chief Clinical Transformation Officer, said, “Cleveland Clinic Connected was designed to improve healthcare delivery around the world by sharing time-tested best practices and knowledge, especially around quality, safety and patient experience. Through this program, local and international hospitals will have access to Cleveland Clinic experts including complex patient care clinical support and advice on operational aspects such as supply chain, IT and finance.”

Leslie Jurecko, M.D., Cleveland Clinic’s Chief of Safety, Quality and Patient Experience, said, “We will be collaborating with hospitals that are aligned with Cleveland Clinic’s core values. The hospital might be small, they might be rural, or a larger health system, but ultimately the necessary element is that they have a culture that embraces improvement. The key criteria for membership is that the organization be aligned with our mission to improve safety, quality and patient experience, and that they see opportunities for the relationship to improve reliability in healthcare.”

Internationally, Cleveland Clinic is uniquely positioned in delivering its clinical and operational advisory services. Cleveland Clinic will leverage its decades of experience operating on the ground in international markets and apply that organizational knowledge to collaborate with diverse healthcare systems around the world. This experience and expertise allows Cleveland Clinic to understand customs and care priorities of international partners and localize shared best practices in order to support patient care locally.

The nonprofit health system currently has 22 hospitals and more than 220 outpatient facilities across the United States, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.