Evaluation of Healthcare Delivery at Cleveland Clinic

Impact on growth

Cleveland Clinic is located in Cuyahoga County in Cleveland, Ohio. Following World War II, Cleveland experienced some challenging times. The city's population peaked at almost one million people in 1950 with iron and steel manufacturing and production as its main economic producer. However, as a result of competition, steel companies in Ohio declined, and many workers lost their jobs. Since then, Cleveland's economy has shifted to an economy of medicine and health. The largest employer in Cuyahoga County is Cleveland Clinic. It’s impact on the statewide economy is $17.8 billion. Between 1990 and 2012, 107,000 healthcare related jobs were created in the region, a 55% increase. Healthcare related jobs have exceeded the number of manufacturing related jobs in the area. A major sector of the local economy is now the health care industry. (Health Zone, n.d.)

Located in Cleveland Ohio, Cleveland Clinic located at 9500 Euclid Ave Cleveland, Ohio is a nonprofit, multispecialty, academic medical center that incorporates both clinical and hospital healthcare services with research and education. This hospital is consistently rated as a one of the top hospitals in the United States and is well regarded predominantly in technological management systems

The accomplishments of Cleveland Clinic sustained 119,720 Ohio jobs in 2016, generating in excess of $7.5 billion in total earnings. This income supported 87,540 families statewide, for a total of $5 billion in domestic spending.  Clinic construction projects also made a sizable impact to the state and local economies. Between 2014 and 2016, Cleveland Clinic invested nearly $808 million in real property improvements, including renovating existing structures, building new facilities, and improving properties in Ohio. That investment sustained nearly 3,200 construction jobs per year and surpassed $164 million in direct and indirect labor income, on average, over the three years. (Cleveland Clinic, n.d.)

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Service

Cleveland Clinic has put their priority in community first. Their organization connects residents with vital resources such as wellness and preventive healthcare, career preparedness, and partnership opportunities and collaboration. They even have a community service time off program that allows their employees time off work to give their time and resources to serve the community. Cleveland Clinic provides free programs and opportunities for all residents in communities that they serve to impact on their efforts to create the healthiest version of themselves. (Government & Community, 2020)

Cleveland Clinic work in partnership with other like-minded groups and individuals to offer free seminars, free health screenings, and community walks. Cleveland Breast Center offers free mammograms for the underinsured and uninsured in the community. Cleveland Clinic also offers free tobacco cessation programs, information on dealing with substance abuse, self-defense classes, coffee with cops program, cooking classes, fitness classes and information, management of chronic diseases, and baby and children related topics.  According to their event page on their website, every week there is an educational, health inspired speaker or activity that the community can attend. 

Impact on Healthcare delivery

In 2004, Cleveland Clinic began using a Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE). CPOE is a process of electronic entry of medical practitioner instructions for the treatment of patients (particularly hospitalized patients). The top benefits of implementing a CPOE are reducing the risk of medication errors, reducing misdiagnoses, and providing the care team consistent reliable information.

A program was implemented at Cleveland Clinic to decrease the number of unnecessary lab tests by preventing physicians from ordering the same test for hospitalized patients more than once a day. This software program intended to improve patient satisfaction by preventing unnecessary needle sticks, as well as to reduce anemia caused by excess blood draws. An additional benefit was that the drop in tests resulted in a cost savings of more than $183,000. This initiative focused on implementation of a clinical decision support tool that was incorporated in the system’s computerized physician order entry (CPOE) program. (Cision, 2014)

Prior to implementation, the Cleveland Clinic plan was evaluated by the entire medical staff, which weighed in on what tests were commonly ordered and provided feedback after the first phase of the roll-out. This was only done for tests deemed never to be needed more than once per day by a multidisciplinary check operational committee. While many hospitals use a CPOE system that alerts the doctor that a test has already been ordered, physicians often ignore it because they don’t have the results handy, or the time to track them down. (Cision, 2014)

After, a new clinical decision support tool was added to Cleveland Clinic’s CPOE program, a doctor could no longer override any flags in the system. The program caused a ‘hard stoppage’ meaning duplicate tests with a certain timeframe and per software program parameters could not be ordered. Not only did this save money as previously mentioned, but this drastically improved patient satisfaction.

Emerging Trends

As a research and educational medical facility, Cleveland Clinic is always looking for the next new thing in healthcare deliverance. In 2019, Cleveland Clinic announced its top medical innovation which included patient-specific products achieved with 3D printing.

Using 3D printing technology, medical devices can now be fitted to the exact measurements of a patient. “Designed to be more consistent with an individual’s natural anatomy, devices developed from patient specific dimensions have shown greater reception by the body, increased comfort and improved performance outcomes in patients. The adaptability provided by 3D printing offers medical practitioners the capability to provide patients the most progressive care, while at the same time reducing the risk of complication. At this time, the most significant work in this area includes external prosthetics, cranial/orthopedic implants, and customized airway stents for diseases narrowing the airway. The 3D technology has also been found beneficial in surgical planning. To date, this expertise has been utilized for many complicated heart surgeries, and even the Cleveland Clinic’s most recent total face transplant. With its expanding healthcare applications, 3D printing is increasing the focus to detail in patient care. (Cleveland Clinic, n.d.) 

References

Cision. (2014, 05 29). AJCP Study Shows How to Improve Patient Care, Prevent Unnecessary Tests, and Save Money. Retrieved from Cision: https://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/05/prweb11894026.htm

Cleveland Clinic. (2016, 12 31). Economic impact report. Retrieved from Cleveland Clinic.org: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/about/community/reports/economic-impact-report

Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved from Consult QD: https://consultqd.clevelandclinic.org/cleveland-clinic-injects-17-8-billion-into-ohios-economy/

Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). Consult QD. Retrieved from Cleveland Clinic: https://consultqd.clevelandclinic.org/cleveland-clinic-unveils-top-10-medical-innovations-for-2019/

Government & Community. (2020, 03 01). Retrieved from Cleveland Clinic: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/about/community/government-community/healthy-lifestyles

Health Zone. (n.d.). Health Zone. Retrieved from Cleveland News: https://www.health.zone/content;_ylt=Awr9Dt5kPcZdRmkA9rSoCmVH;_ylu=X3oDMTEwbHI2ZzczBGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNyZWwtYm90