CLEVELAND — We’re in the midst of a dramatic change in the way healthcare is delivered, and Cleveland Clinic CEO Dr. Toby Cosgrove is well aware of the bumpy road ahead.
In his annual speech to employees he also added that there is opportunity to create better access, drive superior quality and make care affordable.
The next few years will be game changing for the medical community, including cuts in Medicare payments, a shift in the reimbursement formula away from fee-for-service to a value-based model that rewards patient outcomes and efficiency.
Cosgrove also talked about the highlights of 2013, including improved access leading to an increase in the number of unique patients in 2013, reaching 1.5 million, including 3,193 international patients.
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Same-day visits topped 1 million, accommodating 98 percent of all same-day requests. In Cleveland Clinic health system emergency departments, the number of visits reached 44,000 per month, with wait times shrinking to just 11 minutes, compared to 46 minutes in 2010.
Cleveland Clinic ranked 14th among 120 academic medical centers nationally in United Health Care quality rankings, a significant improvement since 2010 when Cleveland Clinic ranked 80th.
The number of patient safety indicators has been reduced to 61 per month system-wide, down from 189 a month in 2010. And patient complaints have decreased from 2.5 per 1,000 encounters to 0.9.
Cost-saving efforts have been taking place across the enterprise.
Nearly 18,000 unnecessary lab tests were avoided, saving $1.9 million.
In nephrology, the cost of a partial nephrectomy has been reduced by 20 percent by reviewing the type of products used in surgery.
In behavioral health, the cost per case dropped 10 percent per patient, through testing a new model of care.
In neurology, costs associated with low back pain have decreased 57 percent by implementing care paths to keep care consistent across the system.
And at Hillcrest Hospital, attentive caregivers noticed that soap, saline and other products were only partially used; switching to smaller bottles system-wide reduced the waste and saved $300,000.
Date: February 26, 2014