BOSTON and CLEVELAND, July 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston Children's Hospital and Cleveland Clinic announced today that they have entered into an agreement to provide complex pediatric heart services through Cleveland Clinic's national network, bringing together two world-renowned institutions. This collaboration is the first of its kind to offer complex pediatric care directly to employers nationally.

The Ohio-based Cleveland Clinic has been ranked No. 1 in adult heart care by U.S. News & World Report for 22 consecutive years and Boston Children's is the No. 1 ranked Children's Hospital and has been a top-ranked heart care program for 22 consecutive years.

As part of the collaboration, Boston Children's is now a member of Cleveland Clinic's network, the first national-scale network of selected high-value cardiovascular care providers for the purpose of contracting with employers and other payers. Over time, Boston Children's and Cleveland Clinic intend to expand the services offered to include other complex and rare pediatric care that justifies patient travel because of the value that can be delivered.

Under the agreement, Boston Children's has special status in the network, participating in leadership of the pediatric program, and sharing in the establishment and management of best practices related to patient care, outcome measurement, quality reporting, and clinical research.

"Teamwork in many forms is the next phase of American medicine. We're finding new ways to combine our individual strengths for better patient care and higher value," said Hani Najm, M.D., chair of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery at Cleveland Clinic.

"Together, our goal to develop and provide consistently high-quality outcomes will drive ongoing improvement and spur innovations for the benefit of patients and families. The collaboration between our organizations offers access to high quality, cost effective care to employers' families who need the most complex heart care," said Pedro J. del Nido, M.D., chief of Cardiac Surgery at Boston Children's.

"Boston Children's is well-known for its commitment to providing high-quality patient outcomes, as are we," said Lars Svensson, M.D., chair of the Miller Family Heart & Vascular Institute. "This agreement will bring together two great institutions dedicated to improving pediatric cardiac surgery care. With this relationship, we look forward to offering more families access to this world-class, complex care and to collaborating with the Boston Children's team in order to continue to improve and innovate."

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