Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic Competing for US Domestic Medical Tourists With Company and Health Insurance Contracts

In the news this week Cleveland Clinic was reported laying off around 200 employees to restructure with current economic conditions, so this might add a little more reason to look for and solicit additional business. Earlier this year the Cleveland Clinic signed a contract with Lowes for cardiac care to where patient care is covered by the company, along with travel and other items if they have their surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. So far 19 employees have taken advantage of the option. In addition the Cleveland Clinic is also focusing on attracting patients from the Middle East with a new website.

Lowe's And Cleveland Clinic Strike Up a Domestic Medical Tourism Contract – Heart Surgery for Employees and Dependents

Mayo Clinic has signed a national contract with United Healthcare to pay in network charges if they travel to their facilities. Unlike the Lowes contract that Cleveland has it doesn’t mention any travel or other expenses covered. As this article mentions Mayo barely broke even in 2008 and had only a small profit in 2009 so they too like all hospitals are looking for more patients. There have even been some administrative fees added with associated clinics.

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Big branded institutions like Mayo, Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins, etc. get a revenue from over seas too with facilities set up in places like Dubai, so if you look at the entire picture here, the money needed to keep the leading facilities open and running is not all coming from here in the US, something to think about as one might wonder how the financials would look without the additional sources of income. BD

Mayo Clinic has joined the medical network of UnitedHealthcare, making it cheaper for 20 million of the insurers' commercial members around the country to seek care there. This is the first national contract Mayo has signed and is part of a move by Mayo to shed its aura of expensive exclusivity. UnitedHealth members will now pay in-network prices if they go to Mayo, which can offer significant savings over out-of-network prices. This national agreement with UnitedHealthcare covers all Mayo's group practices and hospitals in Rochester, Jacksonville, Phoenix and Scottsdale.
Mayo had smaller, specialized contracts with UnitedHealth in the past. Since 2004, it's been part of UnitedHealth's transplant network. It also has contracts with other national insurers, but those agreements only cover people in some regions of the country. Mayo has a reputation for being more expensive per procedure while UnitedHealth has a reputation for driving a hard bargain with providers. The promise of more commercial business is attractive to Mayo because after barely breaking even in 2008, it only managed a small profit in 2009. Mayo treated 528,000 patients last year. Currently, 20 to 30% of patients travel more than 500 miles for treatment.

Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic compete for medical tourists