The Mankato Clinic learned today that it has received a tier-one ranking by Blue Cross Blue Shield based on cost efficiency and high quality of care.
Blue Cross Blue Shield announced a new insurance plan for employers that ranks health care providers on cost and quality. The ranking consists of two tiers, with tier one representative of clinics that are lowest in cost and highest in quality.
The Mankato Clinic, Greater Mankato’s largest multi-specialty clinic, received the top tier-one ranking and is the only clinic system in the region to receive the preferred status. The ranking coincides with a new insurance product, Blue Precision, aimed at providing consumers and employers with increased information to make better informed health care decisions based on cost and quality. Blue Cross Blue Shield is predicting a typical savings for employers of 6-8 percent by utilizing tier-one health care providers.
Mankato Clinic Chief Operating Officer, Bryan Nermoe, says the clinic has in its 90-year history always had an emphasis on providing highly efficient, quality care close to home. Nermoe also attributes the ranking to the Mankato Clinic’s locally physician-owned structure and a growing quality management program.
“In 2002, the Mankato Clinic in partnership with the Orthopaedic and Fracture Clinic, opened the
In 2005, the Mankato Clinic opened an
“When looking at providing services, the Mankato Clinic system looks first to where we can provide for the best medical outcomes, and then we look at how to provide the service in the most cost-effective manner,” says Nermoe. “A competitive market contributes to an increased focus on efficiencies, and the choices it brings to consumers should be available at all levels of the health care system.”
In 2003, the Mankato Clinic became accredited by Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC), and was the only multi-specialty clinic in the state to receive a three-year accreditation award. Most recently, the Mankato Clinic has joined the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI) – a statewide quality collaborative that provides the Clinic with information and resources to grow specific quality improvement initiatives.
Nermoe points out that quality care is also significantly reflected through patient satisfaction. “Earlier this year, of almost 3,000 patients surveyed, we were pleased that over 96 percent said they would recommend the Mankato Clinic to someone else,” says Nermoe.
The State’s Department of Employee Relations conducted a cost-only ranking process in 2003 for the Minnesota Advantage Health Plan and also placed the Mankato Clinic in a preferred category.
The Mankato Clinic, started in 1916, offers eight sites in six communities with over 100 physicians and practitioners.
