ValueHealth, LLC, a nationally recognized tech-enabled surgical platform company, and central Pennsylvania-based Penn State Health today announced a new joint venture to develop a high-performance surgical network. The strategic partnership strives to bring the highest quality outpatient surgical capabilities to the region while significantly lowering costs for patients and employers.
One of the leading university health systems in the country, Penn State Health has partnered with ValueHealth to respond to the continuing shift in the delivery of surgical care from fee-for-service to value-based.
“Penn State Health’s strategic vision is to deliver accessible, high-quality, high-value care to the communities we serve,” said Tom Stoessel, executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Penn State Health. “Based on what ValueHealth has been able to accomplish with other leading Health Systems across the country, we believe they are the right partner to help us deliver our vision for ambulatory surgical care to patients in our region.”
The joint venture will develop a high-quality, value-based surgical network in communities across south central Pennsylvania with ambulatory surgery centers that will initially focus on orthopedics, but may expand to other surgical specialties over time. These Ambulatory Centers of Excellence will utilize ValueHealth’s hyper-specialty MUVE program which includes recovery StaySuitesTM that use a proven recovery model to reduce risk for patient readmission and post-operative complications.
ValueHealth’s nationally recognized Ambulatory Centers of Excellence (ACE)™ program has been recognized as one of the top 6 Healthcare Innovations in specialty surgical care and will not only exceed national accrediting standards, but it will also meet ValueHealth’s stricter clinical, quality, patient experience and financial measures.
ValueHealth and Penn State Health’s joint ambulatory surgery center network will incorporate ValueHealth’s payor-led, tech-enabled, data-driven digital surgical platform, currently integrated into over 30 health systems and including patient steerage, payor bundles, and warranty contracts.
“Forward-thinking health system leadership teams like Penn State Health’s are leading the way in responding to the shift to value-based care as well as creating the flex capacity to deliver new levels of safe care,” said ValueHealth President Don Bisbee. “Our partnership will begin a new era of innovative care, patient experience and cost reduction for central Pennsylvania by leveraging each organization’s capabilities.”
About ValueHealth
ValueHealth has pioneered the ambulatory surgical space since 1997. Founded on the fundamentals of payment reform and consumerism, ValueHealth is a technology-enabled, data-driven healthcare services company with a surgical digital platform that accelerates the transition from fee-for-service to value-based surgical care while successfully positioning our provider partners to flourish in an emerging risk environment. Today, we operate in over 30 states and our nationally recognized Ambulatory Centers of Excellence (ACE)™ are leaders in the transition to value-based care. We’re passionate about putting our proven experience to work for you as a trusted partner to help you achieve market share dominance and the highest clinical and safety performance.
About Penn State Health
Penn State Health is a multi-hospital health system serving patients and communities across 29 counties in central Pennsylvania. It employs more than 16,500 people systemwide. The system includes Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State Children’s Hospital, and Penn State Cancer Institute based in Hershey, Pa.; Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center in Camp Hill, Pa.; Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center in Reading, Pa.; and more than 2,300 physicians and direct care providers at more than 125 medical office locations. Additionally, the system jointly operates various health care providers, including Penn State Health Rehabilitation Hospital, Hershey Outpatient Surgery Center, Hershey Endoscopy Center, Horizon Home Healthcare and Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute. In December 2017, Penn State Health partnered with Highmark Health to facilitate creation of a value-based, community care network in the region. Penn State Health shares an integrated strategic plan and operations with Penn State College of Medicine, the University’s medical school.