Dive Brief:
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Cleveland Clinic is reportedly looking to expand, but it's not to another part of Ohio or even to another state. The health system signed a management consulting agreement with an organization looking to open a hospital in Shanghai, China, Crain's Cleveland Business reported.
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The health system isn’t naming the organization at this time, but the deal is the first Cleveland Clinic global affiliation relationship in a program called Cleveland Clinic Connected.
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Cleveland Clinic said in the disclosure document dated Aug. 8 that “international activities have increased the diversity of the health system’s healthcare operations while promoting the Cleveland Clinic’s clinical expertise in new markets.”
Dive Insight:
In an attempt to gain profitability, many healthcare organizations have expanded their footprint to reach scale. However, this Cleveland Clinic deal goes well beyond expanding a footprint and instead looks to build Cleveland Clinic into a global brand. Cleveland Clinic, of course, is already a huge name in healthcare. U.S. News & World Report recently named Cleveland Clinic number two in its 2017-18 Best Hospitals list.
Global expansion is not new for Cleveland Clinic, which has spent the last decade expanding throughout the world, including to England, Canada and the United Arab Emirates.
In recent months, Cleveland Clinic announced it is also looking to expand closer to home. It signed a letter of intent to buy Dover, Ohio-based Union Hospital, which will expand the clinic’s reach in Ohio.
Beyond local expansion and global expansion, Cleveland Clinic recently partnered with Oscar, a health insurer, to offer co-branded health plans for people living in northeast Ohio. Pending regulatory approval, the Cleveland Clinic/Oscar health plans will be available on and off the Ohio Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges in Cuyahoga, Summit, Lorain, Medina and Lake counties.