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CardiovascularMayo Clinic in Florida Recognized for High-Quality, Cost-Effective Transplant Care
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville has been recognized as one of the first facilities in the nation to receive the Blue Distinction Centers+SM designation in the area of transplant care. Awarded through Florida Blue as part of a national program from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies, the designation recognizes hospitals shown to deliver high-quality specialty care based on objective, transparent measures for patient safety and health outcomes that were developed with input from the medical community.
Mayo Clinic in Florida is also recognized as a Blue Distinction Center for its quality care and services in the areas of cardiac care, hip and knee replacements and spine surgery.
Since 1992, Mayo Clinic’s Gary and Dianne McCalla Transplant Center has been providing care for patients in need of a lifesaving transplant. This includes blood or marrow, lung, liver, kidney, pancreas or heart transplantation. Almost 5,000 solid organ and 800 blood or marrow transplants have been completed to date at the Florida campus. Mayo Clinic differentiates itself from other health care centers by delivering patient-centered care from integrated teams of specialists, who are able to address the complex needs of each individual patient.
To receive a Blue Distinction Centers+ for TransplantsSM designation, a hospital must demonstrate success in meeting the highest patient safety and transplant-specific quality measures (including survival metrics).
“We are proud to have been recognized by Blue Cross and Blue Shield as a Blue Distinction Center for solid organ and blood or marrow transplants,” says Thomas A. Gonwa, M.D., chair of the Department of Transplantion at Mayo Clinic in Florida.
“Mayo Clinic always strives to not only meet the needs of our patients but exceed in the areas of quality patient care. This designation is one of many that show our ongoing commitment to our transplant patients.”
More than 120,000 people, including children, are waiting for organ transplant in the United States. Every 10 minutes another name is added to the national waiting list, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, although on average, 18 people die each day waiting for transplants that can't take place because of the shortage of donated organs. Additionally, there are more than 20,000 people each year who may benefit from a blood or marrow transplant as their best treatment option.
The cost of transplant procedures is estimated at more than $20 billion annually at an average of approximately $500,000 each, according to the Milliman Research Report, “2011 U.S. Organ and Tissue Transplant Cost Estimates and Discussion.”
The Blue Distinction Centers for Specialty Care program identifies hospitals delivering quality care in bariatric surgery, cardiac care, complex and rare cancers, knee and hip replacements, spine surgery and transplants. These specialty areas comprise approximately 30 percent of inpatient hospital expenditures. For more information about the program and for a complete listing of the designated facilities, please visit bcbs.com/bluedistinction.
About Transplantation at Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic has one of the nation’s largest and most experienced transplant practices, with campuses in Minnesota, Arizona and Florida. Over 200 doctors in transplant medicine and surgery perform about 1,800 transplants a year, and have a long track record of excellent outcomes. The opportunity to collaborate with multiple transplant programs allows Mayo Clinic patients access to a multidisciplinary transplant team and the opportunity for multiorgan transplantation if necessary.
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About Mayo Clinic
Recognizing 150 years of serving humanity in 2014, Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research and education for people from all walks of life. For more information, visit 150years.mayoclinic.org, mayoclinic.org and newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org.
About the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association is a national federation of 37 independent, community-based and locally-operated Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that collectively provide health care coverage for more than 100 million members – 1 in 3 Americans. For more information on the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and its member companies, please visit bcbs.com.
Blue Distinction Centers® (BDC) met overall quality measures for patient safety and outcomes, developed with input from the medical community. Blue Distinction Centers+SM (BDC+) also met cost measures that address consumers’ need for affordable health care. Individual outcomes may vary. National criteria are displayed on bcbs.com. A local Blue Plan may require additional criteria for facilities located in its own service area. For details on local Blue Plan criteria, a provider’s in-network status, or your own policy’s coverage, contact your local Blue Plan. Each hospital’s Cost Index is calculated with data from its local Blue Plan. Hospitals in CA, ID, NY, PA, and WA may lie in two local Blue Plans’ areas, resulting in two Cost Index figures; and their own local Blue Plans decide whether one or both Cost Index figures must meet BDC+ national criteria. Neither the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association nor any Blue Plans are responsible for damages or non-covered charges resulting from Blue Distinction or other provider finder information or care received from Blue Distinction or other providers.
MEDIA CONTACT: Cynthia Weiss, Mayo Clinic Public Affairs, 904-953-0464, Email: weiss.cynthia@mayo.edu
