Cleveland Clinic is a national leader in cardiology and cardiovascular surgery and will provide on-site expertise to drive world-class clinical excellence in cardiovascular care by establishing processes and best practices and fostering a culture of innovation. Mercy and Cleveland Clinic will co-brand the world-class cardiovascular center to be built on Mercy’s campus.
“We are pleased to collaborate with the Alice L. Walton Foundation, Mercy and Heartland Whole Health Institute to enhance access to quality cardiovascular care for Northwest Arkansas communities,” said Tom Mihaljevich, M.D., CEO and president of Cleveland Clinic and Morton L. Mandel CEO Chairman. “This collaboration enables Cleveland Clinic to deliver on our promise to provide safe, compassionate care to more patients.”
For nearly two decades, Mercy has consistently been ranked as one of the largest and best-performing Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in the nation and has invested in its care model and infrastructure to ensure high-quality, low-cost care throughout its service territory. Mercy’s value-based care leadership has saved CMS (U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) more than $250 million over the past five years.
“We are at the beginning of a decades-long relationship to transform health care,” said Steve Mackin, Mercy president and CEO. “As health care becomes increasingly complex, we are committed to working closely with Alice and her team to innovate new models of care that improve quality and provide access for all while reducing the total cost of care. Mercy opened the nation’s first virtual health center in 2015, long before a global pandemic prompted consumers to demand virtual care. We are excited to bring significantly enhanced and broader specialty care to Northwest Arkansas while continuing to create meaningful and lasting change in the region.”
This 30-year agreement includes significant investments to position Northwest Arkansas as a medical epicenter and a national example of new and innovative ways to deliver health care.
The Alice L. Walton Foundation and Cleveland Clinic previously announced an effort to increase access to specialty medical services in Northwest Arkansas after a study found many patients were leaving the region for specialty care, such as cardiology services.
One of the fastest growing regions in the United States, Northwest Arkansas is positioned as a world-class medical hub in the heart of the nation’s epicenter. The Heart Center will be the cornerstone of a medical hub that includes:
· Provide access to comprehensive cardiac services to residents of the 20-state Heartland region.
· Improve quality while reducing the total cost of care through value-based payment initiatives and services delivered.
· Implement a preventative, comprehensive care model that leverages technology and telehealth to improve local health outcomes and reduce health care costs.
· Attracting many new physicians, Mercy plans to welcome hundreds to the area over the next few years.
Position Northwest Arkansas as a premier medical location and encourage new patients from the mid-state to seek care in the region.
· Contribute to a stronger economic core in the center, treating patients closer to home and significantly reducing the $950 million currently lost annually as patients seek specialty care outside of Northwest Arkansas.
Mercy and Cleveland Clinic will work with the Heartland Whole Health Institute to place patients’ physical, mental, emotional and social well-being at the center of a preventative, value-based care model and ensure whole health principles form the foundation of the new heart center. As part of the agreement, Mercy will serve as the lead educational partner for the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine.
“We believe transparent, health-driven care is non-negotiable,” says Walter Harris, president and CEO of Heartland Whole Health Institute. “By abandoning traditional approaches to care and physician fees for a model that prioritizes keeping patients healthy and reducing costs, both providers and patients will benefit. This is just the beginning of what we can accomplish together.”
