Medtronic signed a five-year partnership deal with Lehigh Valley Health Network, an eight-hospital organization in Allentown, Pa., to improve patient outcomes and minimize costs, CNBC reports.
Here are four things to know about the partnership agreement.
1. Under the partnership, the organizations will work together to create medical processes and treat more than 70 medical conditions using Medtronic technology. Specifically, Medtronic seeks to help LVHN providers detect signs of respiratory compromise earlier to reduce the number of related adverse effects patients may experience by 20 percent, the report states.
2. LVHN officials will compare patient outcomes and cost savings from those processes with data from its eight hospitals. Medtronic will only receive payment for some treatments if the processes lead to favorable outcomes.
3. Medtronic Chairman and CEO Omar Ishrak, PhD, said Medtronic started incorporating such payment models to help transition the company, and the industry, toward value-based care. For example, the company signed nearly 1,000 contracts specifying it must reimburse hospitals for part of the costs if its Tyrx antibacterial envelope doesn't prevent infection for patients receiving cardiac devices, according to the report.
4. Through the partnership, the organizations aim to reach 500,000 patients across northeast Pennsylvania and cut LVHN's costs by $100 million.