Why travel to Geisinger for a ProvenCare™ procedure?

Patients who undergo a ProvenCare surgery or procedure/process of care at Geisinger receive the best available information and techniques every time. We follow and document each of the benchmarks of care during each procedure. Experts tell us that these benchmarks are consistently performed and documented in only about half the time at other hospitals.

How does ProvenCare help avoid errors?

Based on leading edge medical data, we’ve documented the best practices for our ProvenCare procedures and now require our doctors to follow these guidelines. In addition, a system of checks and balances holds various members of the surgical team responsible for elements of the patient’s care. These checks are built into the patient’s Electronic Health Record and ensure that the steps are documented and cross-referenced.
 
Clearly, avoiding errors is a never-ending struggle. But having a reliable system in place to help each member of the surgical team do all the right things the right way at the right time is critical in minimizing errors. Obviously it isn’t possible to get a complication/readmission rate to zero, but that’s what we strive for.

What’s the deal with the “warranty?”

ProvenCare has a key financial piece that the media has labeled “surgery with a warranty.” While no surgical procedure comes with a guarantee, the ProvenCare program is about more than continually providing the highest level of service. If a patient experiences an avoidable complication within 90 days of the procedure, we’ll cover the entire cost of any follow-up care provided by a Geisinger clinician or if it’s provided at a Geisinger facility.
 
Right now, this financial element applies only to members of Geisinger Health Plan, which insures 206,000 people within 40+ counties in Pennsylvania. We would like to expand this part of ProvenCare to other insurance groups.
 
The most important part of ProvenCare is the absolute commitment to providing the best possible care every time. Unless there is a substantial medical reason not to, all of our elective CABG patients receive the 40 best practice steps. In fact, our doctors don’t even know the patient’s insurance carrier when they operate.

Are you the first healthcare provider to use this system?

Geisinger’s heart surgery team was the first to participate in an inpatient acute (short-term) care program that uses the Electronic Health Record and pay for performance principles to improve care and reduce costs. While the ingredients have been around for a while, we’ve combined them in a novel way.

How many ProvenCare programs have been developed?

The following ProvenCare programs are now underway: coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), hip replacement, cataract surgery, PCI/ angioplasty, perinatal care, baratrics, low back pain, and erythropoietin management.