Dive Brief:
- Cleveland Clinic and Theranos are teaming up to provide more innovative and affordable lab work to patients by linking the clinic's pathologists with Theranos' CLIA-certified laboratory services, according to a joint press release.
- "Healthcare innovation is essential to making care more accessible, affordable and timely for patients," said Toby Cosgrove, MD, President and CEO of Cleveland Clinic. "This relationship could open up new opportunities for both patients and physicians to be part of high-quality, low-cost healthcare."
- Theranos is known for being able to offer its full spectrum of lab tests with blood sample sizes of only a few drops. Moreover, the company touts the fact its tests are typically priced at 50% below the Medicare reimbursement rates, reducing the overall cost of healthcare for all their customers.
Dive Insight:
This is what patients, regulators, insurers and Medicare are looking for in deals these days. Demonstrate innovation and then draw a line between innovation and reducing the cost of healthcare with a huge permanent Sharpie. Moreover, the substance of this announcement is palpable enough that it's a fair bet the folks at competing national institutions like the Mayo Clinic may be scratching their heads and asking themselves, "Why didn’t we think of that?"