Minnesota surgeon David Larson has identified proven ways to help people recover faster and at a lower cost from colorectal surgery.
Now, Dr. Larson’s insights are available to doctors at St. Clair Hospital in Mt. Lebanon after the health care system inked a deal to join the Mayo Clinic Care Network, a national 5-year-old group of health care providers that share hospital management insights and what works best in treating disease.
Dr. Larson chairs Mayo Clinic’s department of colorectal surgery, and his research is an example of how St. Clair doctors and patients can benefit from the collaboration.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but St. Clair president and CEO James Collins said Wednesday the partnership will give hospital doctors and administrators access to Mayo’s best hospital management practices and proven-effective ways of treating a range of medical problems, from cancer to heart disease. The agreement is designed to be renewed annually.
“We need to be an even better St. Clair in the future,” Mr. Collins said. “True north at St. Clair is always good patient care.”
Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo formed the care network in 2011 as a way to share best practices in clinical care and hospital management. St. Clair is the 41st member, including organizations in Mexico and Singapore.
Save for the banners out front of the Mt. Lebanon hospital, St. Clair’s partnership will be all but invisible to patients, Mr. Collins said.
But the availability of real-time electronic consulting with Mayo specialists on difficult cases and tumor board conferences will improve care with the opportunity to hold down treatment costs, Mr. Collins said. The so-called enhanced recovery steps identified by Dr. Larson, which have been developed for a range of other problems, is an example of how St. Clair patients can benefit.
Janice Klein, a trustee of the Allegheny County School Health Insurance Consortium, welcomed the news. “I’m tickled,” said Ms. Klein, whose nonprofit group focuses on assuring low cost, high quality medical care for its 18,000 school employees and retirees. “It just brings another resource into the area. I absolutely support the work that James Collins is doing.”
Kris B. Mamula:kmamula@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1699
First Published: August 24, 2016, 4:24 p.m.
Updated: August 25, 2016, 2:07 a.m.