MCSIG saves more than $9 Million in surgery discounts and avoided
costs since 2015 with its BridgeHealth surgical advocacy program

DENVER–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/bestsurgeons?src=hash” target=”_blank”gt;#bestsurgeonslt;/agt;–Municipalities Colleges Schools Insurance Group (MCSIG) has saved
millions of dollars over the last four years, all while continuing to
deliver higher-quality surgical care to its members through
BridgeHealth, an industry-leading provider of Surgical Centers of
Excellence.

In 2010, MCSIG saw healthcare costs 40 to 80 percent more than other
areas of the U.S. and 20 to 30 percent higher than other California
cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. As a public entity, the high
cost of healthcare meant lower salaries for MCSIG employees. Yet, just
as concerning as costs were, MCSIG also wanted to ensure consistently
high-quality care for their members.

Surgery is one of the most expensive healthcare costs employers see
annually. It’s also one of the most expensive and stressful experiences
an employee will ever have to face. To address this issue, MCSIG
contracted with BridgeHealth in 2011 to provide a value-based surgery
benefit solution to its members.

BridgeHealth negotiates with Centers of Excellence — the nation’s
top-performing surgical teams, according to independent, national
rankings — for episode-of-care case rates. BridgeHealth bundles the
charges for each of the most common surgeries into a single discounted
price. Plus, their team of care coordinators manage every aspect of the
surgery on behalf of the employee from records collection and surgery
preparation through travel planning and recovery.

“In late 2014, we worked with BridgeHealth to add the best local
facilities to the network, and this convenience drove a tenfold increase
in surgeries by our members through BridgeHealth instead of through our
PPO health plan,” says Mike Larsen, executive director at MCSIG.

In less than four years, the results have been significant. From 2015
through end of year 2018, BridgeHealth’s bundled, discounted pricing
saved MCSIG $6.6 million dollars in surgical costs alone. Add to that
the focus on high-quality surgical care and BridgeHealth’s solution
helped MCSIG avoid another $2.4 million in postoperative complications
for MCSIG’s members.

“We know, based on studies, that the cost of poor-quality surgical care
has a significant down-stream effect on healthcare spend,” said Mark
Stadler, president and CEO of BridgeHealth. “Surgery is a critical point
in an individual’s life – surgical complications such as infections can
create a negative ripple effect that significantly impacts an
individual’s quality of life. This can lead to prolonged recovery,
increased costs, disability, lost productivity and even depression and
reliance on pain medication. High-quality care decreases these
complications and the costs associated with them. We’re honored to work
with an organization like MCSIG that is committed to providing quality
care for their employees.”

To learn more about Municipalities Colleges Schools Insurance Group
(MCSIG), visit MCSIG.com.
To learn more about BridgeHealth, visit www.bridgehealth.com.

About MCSIG

Municipalities Colleges Schools Insurance Group (MCSIG) is a Joint
Powers Authority on California’s Central Coast. MCSIG insures about 70
public agencies throughout California, primarily in
education. Approaching 8,000 insured employees with 90% growth over the
last few years.

About BridgeHealth

BridgeHealth (www.bridgehealth.com)
is a provider of value-based healthcare services that guide members to
surgical Centers of Excellence nationwide. Its bundled rates allow
self-insured group health plans to improve the quality and outcomes of
surgery while reducing costs from 30% to 50% on average per procedure.
Members are supported through concierge-level care coordination,
eliminating the stress of planning and preparing for surgery. Our
top-level member experience is evident in our consistent 90+ Net
Promoter Scores.

Contacts

Christine Bailey
VP Product Management and Marketing
(602)
410-4506
[email protected]

Michael B. Larsen
Executive Director, MCSIG
(831) 755-0161
[email protected]