UConn Health is now considered a “Center of Excellence” for maternity care, knee replacement/revision, lumbar spine fusion, and lumbar laminectomy.
For patients enrolled in state employee and retiree health plans, it means the highest-available cash incentives for choosing UConn Health for these services.
For UConn Health, it’s a third-party acknowledgement of quality and cost-effective care.
The Center of Excellence designations affirm UConn Health’s steadfast focus on patient-centered, high-quality, and affordable care.
— Dr. Bruce T. Liang
The Connecticut Office of the State Comptroller, which administers the state health plans, has identified providers, hospitals, and health care groups in the state that meet specific quality standards for certain services. Those meeting those standards are considered “Providers of Distinction,” and the elite among them exceeding those standards earn the “Center of Excellence” designation.
Plan members who choose a “Provider of Distinction” earn a cash incentive for the associated service. Those who choose a “Center of Excellence” are eligible for a larger incentive.
“By prioritizing quality of care, and avoiding costly complications, we’re able to better support patients and help grow Connecticut’s health care sector,” says Comptroller Natalie Braswell. “As administrator of the state health plan, my office is combatting long-term cost growth by preventing catastrophic illness and the consequences of inadequate care, like post-surgical infections and readmissions. I’m grateful for the partnerships we’ve established in the Providers of Distinction program and congratulate UConn Health and the other newly designated Centers of Excellence. It’s my hope that, by elevating the most talented doctors, hospitals, provider groups and other medical institutions, that we can lower costs and make Connecticut the health care capital of the nation.”
The idea is to encourage members to choose providers offering competitively priced services that will result in improved patient outcomes.
“The Center of Excellence designations affirm UConn Health’s steadfast focus on patient-centered, high-quality, and affordable care,” says Dr. Bruce T. Liang, interim CEO of UConn Health. “We are proud to be a partner in the state’s initiative further elevating the quality and value of health care for all.”
The comptroller’s office describes the Center of Excellence designations as part of the next phase of the state’s value-based care payment program for hundreds of thousands of state employees and retirees.
“Being recognized as a Center of Excellence for many of the common orthopedic procedures that we offer is an affirmation that we are living up to the high expectations that we set for ourselves and will serve as the ever-growing base that we use to build upon as we care for our patients and innovate going forward,” says Dr. Isaac Moss, director of the UConn Musculoskeletal Institute.
More than 340 providers throughout the state have “Providers of Distinction” status. UConn Health is one of three with a “Centers of Excellence” designation.
“I am proud of the expanded services we are able to offer our patients,” says Dr. Stephanie Bowers, UConn Health’s OB-GYN Division chief. “Our goal is to continue to work to provide the best and safest possible care for all of the patients in our UConn Health family.”
Learn more about the Centers of Excellence and the Providers of Distinction through the comptroller’s Care Compass hub, which includes a lookup tool.
