BUILDING AND LAUNCHING A VALUE-BASED HEALTHCARE MODEL Aligning Value

Medtronic and Lehigh Valley Health Network collaborate on a unique approach to patient care.

pdf Patient Focused: Building a New Kind of Value-Based Healthcare Model (.pdf)

Learn about a partnership between Medtronic and Lehigh Valley Health Network.

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Learn about a partnership between Medtronic and Lehigh Valley Health Network.
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Every day, healthcare systems, governments, and payers are under intense pressure to deliver high-value healthcare — where care balances clinical benefits and costs, with the goal of improving patient outcomes.

When Medtronic and Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) in Pennsylvania announced a first-of-its-kind collaboration in 2018, the objective was clear: develop new ways to apply the right care intervention to the right patient at the right time. The reality of bringing two large organizations together to tackle the complex and uncharted territory of value-based healthcare requires flexibility, dedication, and a shift in mindset to create a strong foundation for future success.

We didn't want to just move the needle a little. We wanted to really make a material change in a positive way.

- Mike Minear, chief information officer at LVHN

With a focus on developing clinical interventions that improve patient outcomes and reduce the cost of care, the team began building a bold and highly collaborative platform where both organizations:

  • Establish trust by aligning on the goal of appropriate technology utilization with shared financial accountability for the outcomes and costs
  • Apply well-defined rules and governance to effectively match LVHN problems with solutions from Medtronic, or other healthcare companies, and vice versa
  • Facilitate program design and deployment with efficient tools to help scale the program and avoid staff burnout
  • Build an information technology infrastructure rich with data to measure value and inform objective decision-making on the appropriate utilization of technologies and services and their associated costs

The strategic and operational infrastructure includes systematic processes, complex data analysis, cross-functional teams, and governance focused on clinical quality, data, and value measurement. 

Man wearing Lehigh Valley white lab coat confers with woman.

Early results of the partnership’s first data-driven program are promising. Using the program as a blueprint, leaders at Medtronic and LVHN are now scaling up the creation of new high-value programs tied to more of LVHN’s care pathways.

“We haven’t built anything just like this before,” said Ada Rivera, administrator of Network Transformation and Strategic Partnerships for LVHN. “But now that we know what success looks like, we can do it again and we can do it much faster.” 

 

Patient Focused: Building a New Kind of Value-Based Healthcare Model
Learn more about year one of this strategic partnership. (PDF)