March 8, 2023 – Employers are bracing for continued increases in healthcare costs and seeking innovative solutions that improve quality and patient experience, while driving costs down. To help employers access the best care for their employees, Vizient announced the expansion of its provider-led, quality-driven surgical care network collaborating to offer bundled pricing for select surgeries to large, self-insured employers. The number of health systems that have joined the high-value network, created in 2021, has doubled to 13, representing 16 markets nationwide.
With additional markets slated for announcement this year, the high-value network now includes Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; parts of California, including Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and northern California; Chicago; Dallas; Kansas City; western Montana; parts of North Carolina, from Wilmington to Winston Salem, including Raleigh and Durham; Portland, Oregon; Seattle/Puget Sound; South Carolina; St. Louis; Tampa, Florida and eastern Washington.
Participating high-value health systems include:
- BJC HealthCare
- Duke Health
- Emory Healthcare
- Johns Hopkins Medicine
- Mass General Brigham
- MemorialCare
- Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC Health)
- Northwestern Medicine
- Providence
- Tampa General Hospital
- The University of Kansas Health System
- Sharp HealthCare
- UT Southwestern Medical Center
With annual healthcare cost increases exacerbated by a spike in inflation as well as a backlog of surgical procedures stemming from the pandemic, employers are seeking relief from unpredictable and growing costs and are frustrated by network solutions that increase opacity and vary from location to location. The network’s bundled pricing program eliminates those complications.
The network is focused on ensuring employers can provide their employees access to timely, appropriate care through creating an offering of surgical bundles that cover all facility and professional services for the surgical event, including a 30-day guarantee for unexpected follow-up care directly related to the surgical event. The network will span over 30 inpatient and outpatient delivery sites with at least one site within a two-hour drive for over 40% of the U.S. population and includes these service lines:
- Bariatric
- Cardiac
- Orthopedics
- Spine