Dive Brief:
- Mercy Health-Cincinnati has entered into a clinical partnership with Mayfield Brain & Spine, one of the city’s largest physician groups, the Cincinnati Business Courier reported.
- The agreement, announced Tuesday, will give Mercy Health patients throughout the Greater Cincinnati area access to “coordinated, high-quality brain and spinal care," according to Mike Garfield, interim CEO of the hospital system.
- Under the deal, The Jewish Hospital-Mercy Health will serve as a neurosurgery center of excellence.
Dive Insight:
The Jewish Hospital will have a dedicated Mayfield Brain & Spine neurosurgeon available around the clock, as well as the area’s only Gamma Knife, a noninvasive brain surgery tool. Patients with medium-severity brain and spinal disorders will be transferred from other Mercy Health hospitals to receive intermediate care there.
Patients with less severe neurological problems will be cared for by Mayfield physicians at other Mercy Health hospitals, the groups said.
The agreement also calls for Mayfield and Mercy Health physicians to work together to develop and implement advance clinical protocols at the health system’s hospitals.
“This new clinical agreement allows us to hardwire patient treatment protocols to ensure a consistent, system-wide approach for the assessment and disposition of brain and spine patients at Mercy Health’s Cincinnati-area hospitals,” Garfield said.
Mayfield is the 15th largest physician group in Cincinnati, with 23 doctors. The group treats some 20,000 patients a year.