Half of the referrals for pediatric heart transplantation are for congenital heart disease. For these cases, corrective surgery may be a viable alternative to transplantation. Treatment for complex CHD cases averages $290,000 per episode – or $1.16 million per 100,000 covered lives. Clinical and financial outcome data reveals that experience with CHD surgery creates value in all dimensions. This is the basis for the U.R.N. CHD Centers of Excellence Network. There are seven centers across the United States that meet the rigorous evaluation criteria specific to CHD. The surveys and criteria are reviewed annually by the U.R.N. Clinical Sciences Institute and their advisory panel for CHD.
The average length of stay in a CHD COE network facility is 16 days vs. 29 days in a non-COE Network facility. The decreased length of stay, in addition to the average of 40% discount U.R.N. has negotiated with the CHD COE Network facilities, leads to a total average cost of $106,873 vs. $290,000 per surgery.
You may visit www.urnclient.com to view the volume data, outcome data, and credentialing criteria for the U.R.N.’s CHD Centers of Excellence Network. Volume and outcome data might be helpful information to share with members and their physicians.