Florida Blue and Mayo Clinic Extend Knee Replacement Bundled Payment Program

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Dec. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Florida Blue and Mayo Clinic jointly announce the decision to continue their collaboration aimed at providing the utmost in quality health care for patients in Florida.

Specifically, the two Florida health care leaders are continuing their bundled payment agreement specific to the treatment of knee replacement surgery for Florida Blue's members.

In addition, Mayo Clinic and Florida Blue are extending their overall network agreement to include thousands of Florida Blue's commercially insured members throughout the state, who are now able to access Mayo Clinic as an in-network provider.

Knee replacement surgery is the most common joint replacement procedure. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, health care professionals perform more than 600,000 knee replacements annually in the United States.

Like many surgical procedures, a knee replacement involves many individual medical procedures and processes. When done separately, the cost of care can add up quickly.

Introduced in 2012, the Mayo Clinic-Florida Blue bundled payment agreement offers the bundled services at one cost. Within the first year, more than 60 members benefitted from the bundled payment program between Florida Blue and Mayo Clinic.

"Florida Blue is honored to continue our collaboration with Mayo Clinic to create a unique bundled care program for our members," said Pat Geraghty, chairman and CEO for Florida Blue. "This partnership serves as another great example of a continued shift to new care models that focus on delivering the highest quality of care while reducing the cost burden for stakeholders."

"Mayo Clinic is pleased to be able to continue collaborating with Florida Blue so that more individuals have the opportunity to experience and benefit from high-quality, safe and technologically-advanced surgical care without burdensome costs," says Dr. Mary O'Connor, Chair of Orthopedic Surgery at Mayo Clinic in Florida. "Our model of integrated medical care has been repeatedly shown to deliver high quality at lower cost which is important for both our patients and our insurance partners."

To learn more about Florida Blue members' experiences with the Florida Blue-Mayo Clinic knee replacement bundled payment program, view the video that highlights the partnership between the two organizations.

About Florida Blue
Florida Blue, Florida's Blue Cross and Blue Shield company, is a leader in Florida's health care industry. Our mission is to help people and communities achieve better health. Florida Blue has approximately 4 million health care members and covers 15.5 million people in 16 states through its affiliated companies. Florida Blue is a not-for- profit, policyholder-owned, tax-paying mutual company. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., it is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. For more information, visit www.FloridaBlue.com.

About Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit MayoClinic.com or MayoClinic.org/news. To schedule an appointment for knee replacement evaluation, call 904-953-2272.

SOURCE Florida Blue