DANVILLE, Pa. — In an industry that thrives on selling more tests, surgeries and drugs, Geisinger Health System gambled three years ago that it could succeed by doing less, but doing it better.
The health system devised a 90-day warranty on elective heart surgery.
If complications arise or the patient returns to the hospital, Geisinger bears the additional cost.
The venture has paid off. Heart patients have fared measurably better, and the health system has cut its bypass-surgery costs by 15 percent.
The idea is at the heart of efforts in Washington to refashion how care is delivered. An Obama administration policy goal is to reduce expensive errors, duplication and unnecessary procedures.
Geisinger is “proving that reliability works,” said Donald Berwick of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. But most hospitals are skeptical of the innovation, saying they would lose money by being unable to bill for treatment of patients who must return.
