ValueHealth®, LLC, the nationally recognized leader in Ambulatory Centers of Excellence (ACE)™, announces the launch of its newest hyperspecialty offering, ValueHealth NovaCore. Using its proven, value-based approach, NovaCore’s scalable model will increase access to affordable metabolic and bariatric surgical care across the United States for consumers, employers and payors, while also improving surgical outcomes.
NovaCore centers will be designated through ValueHealth’s Bariatric ACE program. The Bariatric ACE program can be deployed in multi-specialty centers or stand-alone NovaCore centers. These centers will join the fast-growing ValueHealth Surgical Network, including 3 new top performing centers that have joined the ACE program. These new centers were the cornerstone of the largest national peer-reviewed study on outpatient bariatric surgical outcomes.
The NovaCore model is driven by years of peer-reviewed clinical data, allowing ValueHealth to offer fixed-cost bundle episodes with a 90-day guarantee. “Peer-reviewed scientific evidence validates that surgery center-based bariatric surgery is safe, clinically effective and reproducible, supporting an increase in patient access to bariatric surgery,” says ValueHealth CEO, Don Bisbee. “This is a fundamental shift in how metabolic and bariatric surgical care has traditionally been delivered, providing employers, consumers and payors with access to safe and cost-effective surgical care.”
Of U.S. patients who receive bariatric surgery, 87% of cases are performed in a hospital inpatient setting, even though about 50% of those cases are candidates for outpatient surgery. The average cost of a single bariatric surgery is $30,000 to $36,000. By shifting the site of service for qualified patients to an outpatient setting, costs can be reduced by upwards of 25% while benefiting from ValueHealth’s innovative clinical protocol and warranty.
“Twenty years ago, the 30-day mortality rate for bariatric surgery was near 20%,” says Vincent Zeringue, NovaCore’s General Manager and industry expert in bariatric care. “Today’s laparoscopic bariatric surgeries have a 30-day mortality rate less than 1%, comparable to the most commonly performed surgeries in the United States. Our intentional design of NovaCore allows us to keep a keen focus on both safety and efficiency.”
NovaCore will improve the safety profile in part through the technological and procedural innovations pioneered by leading metabolic and bariatric physicians, including Daniel Cottam, M.D., who will serve as NovaCore’s Medical Director. The NovaCore model was developed by using data and evidence gained from the largest peer-reviewed study on outpatient safety and bariatric efficacy, led by Dr. Cottam, and will bring the best practices to bare as part of the ACE program. An industry expert, Dr. Cottam has published numerous peer-reviewed research studies demonstrating the proven efficacy and safety of modern bariatric surgical care.
“We’re excited to partner with ValueHealth and their innovative approach to bringing value-based care to the bariatric and metabolic field,” says Dr. Cottam. “This will have a dramatic impact on patients with bariatric and metabolic surgical needs.”
NovaCore will incorporate ValueHealth’s proven experience, including ValueHealth Muve’s Orthopedic ACE program of clinical procedures and post-surgery recovery Stay Suites. NovaCore’s multidisciplinary patient-care teams will include surgeons, behaviorists, nutritionists and patient advocates. In addition, NovaCore will incorporate ValueHealth SurgerySavings, a benefit program providing financial rebates when certain procedures are performed at in-network ambulatory surgery centers.