A new venture backed by several healthcare providers is taking on the task of gathering improved intelligence about medical devices and their efficacy for patients. SharedClarity LLC will gather data from member hospitals around the United States to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of high-technology medical devices that have a significant impact on patients, specifically in cardiology, ophthalmology orthopedics, radiology, imaging, cardiac surgery and general surgery. Data will also be pulled from the coverage claims of UnitedHealthcare insurance.
Mark West, president of the new company, explained to Medical Product Outsourcing that the goal is to “inform doctors on how products perform so they can make better decision for patients.”
SharedClarity was conceived several years ago during normal business reviews between San Francisco, Calif.-based Dignity Health and Minneapolis, Minn.-based UnitedHealthcare.
“There was a recurring topic of wanting to gain better knowledge on medical devices,” said West, who previously served as vice president of supply chain management for UnitedHealthcare before taking on this new role in January this year. “Also, unaffordability—if we could identify differences in how products performed, we would see that better ones would be more affordable because of less readmission rates. That would take cost out of the healthcare system. We wanted to identify a model and improve on it.”
Although the goals of SharedClarity—namely, cutting healthcare costs—works extremely well with the goals of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) signed into law by Presdient Obama in 2010, “the concept was developed before ACA,” said West. “Because our members thought it was the right thing to do. Coincidentally, [SharedClarity] complements the ACA very well.”
Dignity and United noted the lack of independent research on the medical device market. Most medical device studies are funded by manufacturers, and therefore are ostensibly biased.
“The data we pull together will be unique data that to our knowledge hasn’t been aggregated before,” noted West. The data will include numbers on how long implants were effective for; readmission rates; and costs of devices and related procedures. This will enable devices to be compared side by side. This comparitive effectiveness information will be accessible by any SharedClarity member.
Several other health systems were then socialized into SharedClarity, including Dallas, Texas-based Baylor Health Care System and Chicago, Ill.-based Advocate Health Care. Baylor, Advocate and Dignity employ about 100,000 people and care for about 7 million patients per year at more than 850 locations around the country. UnitedHealthcare, which is a UnitedHealth Group company, provides health benefits to more than 40 million Americans. SharedClarity has 11 member groups so far, and plans to add additional health system members in the coming months.
SharedClarity intends to use the results of the studies to select the best devices for patients and negotiate affordable purchasing agreements with device manufacturers. According to the company, hospitals across the United States spend more than $30 billion annually on the 30 most frequently used categories of devices, according to analyst estimates.
“We want the company to eventually have a geographically broad base in the United States,” said West.
The SharedClarity medical device studies will be overseen by physicians from each of the health systems, using data from member hospitals and claims information from UnitedHealthcare. The recently announced Optum Labs facility will be the data and research partner for SharedClarity with consultants from the Lewin Group, long known for its independent research in the health care industry, overseeing the research.
“Independent research on the long-term performance of these widely used medical devices will help each of our health systems improve care and result in better patient outcomes,” said Lee B. Sacks, M.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer for Advocate Health Care. “SharedClarity will provide a comprehensive view of how these medical devices perform after being inserted into patients, using an unprecedented amount of data. It’s crucial information that will benefit patients and improve the quality of care.”
SharedClarity’s clinical review teams will include physicians from member health systems who will work with Optum Labs, a health care research company, to oversee the research and analysis of data for each medical device category evaluated.
“We have a responsibility as providers and insurers to deliver the highest quality, most affordable care possible,” said Richard Roth, vice president of strategic innovation for Dignity Health. “In joining together to form SharedClarity we are building a platform that will give doctors, hospitals, and insurers the information we need to make evidence-based decisions about the care we are providing.”
SharedClarity is headquartered in Phoenix, Ariz.
Ranica Arrowsmith, Associate Editor05.01.13