Cleveland Clinic Teams with Three Baylor Hospitals to Provide Heart Care

Cleveland Clinic is pleased to announce a new collaboration with Baylor Scott & White Health. This alliance will make three Baylor hospitals the exclusive providers for Texas and Oklahoma cardiac patient referrals from Cleveland Clinic’s Cardiovascular Specialty Network. The hospitals are Baylor Jack and Jane Hamilton Heart and Vascular Hospital, Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, and The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano. The network allows patients to seek Cleveland Clinic-directed heart care closer to home.

The Cleveland Clinic-Baylor Scott & White alliance will provide world-class care to patients living in Texas and Oklahoma.

“Teamwork is the new face of American medicine. Hospitals and medical centers are reaching out across cities, regions and state lines. We’re finding new ways to combine our strengths to provide better patient care,” said Toby Cosgrove, MD, president and CEO of Cleveland Clinic.

Why Baylor Scott & White?

While Cleveland Clinic was seeking high-quality allies, they assessed Baylor Scott & White Health’s cardiac programs, infrastructure, resources and outcomes and found them compatible with Cleveland Clinic’s mission.

“This is an alliance between two organizations that are much alike,” says Dr. Cosgrove. “We are both leaders in cardiovascular care. Our cultures are compatible and our strengths are complementary. We share a passion for excellence and innovation,” he says. “Most importantly, we share a common goal: to eradicate heart disease in our time.”

How the arrangement will work

Under the agreement, the systems will share best practices, coordinate care and develop programs to improve quality and patient safety. The goal is to strengthen the already-strong clinical care at Baylor Scott & White.

In addition, the relationship will strengthen all elements of cardiovascular medicine and cardiac surgery at the Baylor Scott & White locations, with a heightened emphasis on clinical quality and an appropriate case mix to better serve the region’s population. Cleveland Clinic and Baylor Scott and White will share clinical policies, treatment protocols and research opportunities. Baylor Scott & White physicians will work with Cleveland Clinic on quality outcomes and protocols to improve heart care. Physicians at both organizations will collaborate regularly on clinical research projects and share clinical policies and treatment protocols.

Expanding the network

Baylor Scott & White is the third system to join Cleveland Clinic’s Cardiovascular Specialty Network, which includes North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in New York and MedStar Heart Institute in Washington, D.C.

“Like Cleveland Clinic, Baylor has an engaged and committed staff and one of the top open-heart programs in the country. Everyone will gain from this alliance—patients most of all,” says Dr. Cosgrove.