Why A Mining Company Sends Its Workers to Fancy, Far-Flung Hospitals

The WSJ Health Blog has an interesting post about companies sending their employees to referral centers, regardless of cost but weighing benefits of rankings and quality of care.  As the story describes, there are a growing number of references that allow patients and insurers alike greater transparency about expected costs of stays and procedures and outcome data. 

The story is also on Bloomberg News.

This appears to be a new model for companies, insurers and patients and seems favorable to Centers of Excellence and large well-known referral centers, even if travel is involved to get the necessary care.

It is interesting that while weighing cost versus quality and deliverables, some are considering quality over cost at the expense of local hospital and health care providers.  Apparently if the local providers cannot provide the quality desired, insurance plans may be willing to pay a higher price. 

Clearly everyone is going to have to try to meet and maintain the highest standards of quality care if this becomes a widespread model or risk losing referrals.