Quality Cardiology Center Seeks End to Soaring Health
Costs
WICHITA, Kansas,
Feb. 26, 2008 -- The Galichia Heart Hospital, one of the leading cardiology treatment
centers in the United States, announced that it will now charge a flat fee
of $10,000 for one of the most common types of open heart surgery, coronary
bypass, according to a story in the Wichita Eagle published this
week. “After carefully studying our costs and reviewing our social
responsibilities, the board of directors has taken careful aim at rising
U.S. healthcare costs by offering an eighty percent reduction in the cost of
open heart surgery to a world-class rate,” said Steve Harris, hospital chief
executive.
“About five of every 1000
people need open-heart surgery every year, so a community this size,
produces roughly 2000 procedures annually,” Harris said. Surgeons at the Galichia Heart Hospital perform about 200 open-heart surgeries a year.
Candidates for the flat-fee surgery will be examined and screened to be sure
they have not previously had the same operation.
“The entire world is
worried about the cost of healthcare and as we analyzed what we could do in
our arena, we found that with good management, a low degree of
complications, predicated on safety and experience, we could change the
challenge the number one killer at an affordable cost,” said Galichia Heart
Hospital founder, Joseph P. Galichia, MD, FACC.
The insurance companies are
intrigued, particularly Blue Cross, the state of Kansas’ largest insurer,
according to a spokesperson. “We’re not an in-network provider but we’re
challenging them to rethink their contracting strategies,” Harris added,”
and we don’t have to wait for national healthcare legislation to pass. We’ve
just done it.”
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