Cleveland Clinic Expands Centers of Excellence Program for Self-Insured Businesses

The health system has added two new centers, covering musculoskeletal and bariatric health, to its program, giving business leaders a direct link to specialist services and allowing them to better manage employee healthcare costs.

The Cleveland Clinic has expanded its Center of Excellence program, which gives business leaders a direct link to specialty services for their employees.

The health system unveiled the Musculoskeletal Center of Excellence and the Bariatric Center of Excellence, which join the Cardiac Center of Excellence. All are part of the Cleveland Clinic Employer Solutions platform, launched roughly 12 years ago to give self-insured businesses a direct pathway to affecting and improving employee health and wellness.

“By choosing a center of excellence, employers can offer employees specialized healthcare from experienced Cleveland Clinic doctors, nurses, and technicians,” Robert Lorenz, MD, the Cleveland Clinic's executive medical director of market and network services, said in a press release. “The effects of healthcare access inequality are two-fold — it affects how patients are cared for when sick as well as their future health. Our centers of excellence make equitable healthcare not only possible but achievable. We know these types of healthcare solutions are not always available close to home, which is why we help employers find an option that fits their needs as well as the needs of their employees no matter where they are located.” 

The program highlights a growing interest among self-insured businesses to control their healthcare costs by dealing directly with healthcare providers, rather than going through an insurer. According to the Business Group on Health's 2021 Large Employers Health Care Strategy and Plan Design Survey, 9% of large businesses are using this model of care, and another 17% are considering moving to this model in 2022-23.

Businesses are choosing this model not only to reduce the complexity of health plans and cut administrative costs, but to better manage soaring employee healthcare costs and boost health and wellness through more focused, evidence-driven care programs, including preventive care.

"When working with employers we have experienced their need, and their constant work, to address inconsistent healthcare quality and rising costs," Wesley Wolfe, the Cleveland Clinic's executive director of market and network services, said in the press release. “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." 

Many of these programs, because they serve large businesses with multiple locations, include digital health and telehealth platforms and tools to improve access to care and help employees and providers with care management.