NOSA Expands to Connecticut

The National Orthopaedic and Spine Alliance (NOSA), a national network formed by Cleveland Clinic, the CORE Institute, The Rothman Institute, OrthoCarolina and OrthoCalifornia, recently announced that it is has added a new member, the Connecticut Joint Replacement Institute and the Spine Institute at Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, Connecticut.

According to the press release, NOSA was formed in 2013 to develop a new model of care for orthopedic and spine care by developing uniform guidelines on appropriateness of care, common protocols and care paths, as well as consistent measurement of outcomes and cost.

The goal of the alliance is to provide predictability in both costs by consistently delivering high-quality care through clinical protocols, performance measurement, and reduced variation and appropriate avoidance surgery if alternative treatments offer better outcomes. All alliance members contract with employers to provide orthopedic and surgical services to employees for a bundled payment—a set price for all the provided services from pre-op screenings through post-op care.

“Large national employers are searching for a way to keep healthcare costs low, while also providing the highest quality of care for their employees,” said Joseph P. Iannotti, M.D., Ph.D., chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Orthopaedic & Rheumatologic Institute and president of NOSA’s 15-member board in the release.

“The alliance—with our measured outcomes, quality improvements and bundled payments—allow employers to know they are getting the highest quality care at the best cost.”

The Connecticut Joint Replacement Institute opened in July 2007 and has performed more than 28,000 joint replacement procedures. The Institute is recognized as one of the leading joint replacement institutes in the United States and is the only health care facility in Connecticut to be accredited with ISO 9001:2015, a quality management standard for health care, according to the release.

Steve Schutzer, M.D, medical director and co-founder of the Connecticut Joint Replacement Institute and president of The Connecticut Joint Replacement Surgeons LLC, told OTW, “We are really excited to be a part of NOSA. Our strategies are aligned with theirs. Our price points are very market-competitive and we also take accountability both financially and clinically. We look forward to comparing and benchmarking our data to these prestigious institutions.”

With this new addition, the alliance now provides patients access in 12 major markets across the United States: Cleveland Clinic (Cleveland, Ohio); Cleveland Clinic Florida (Weston, Florida); CORE Institute (Phoenix, Arizona); OrthoCalifornia (Los Angeles, California); OrthoCarolina (Charlotte, North Carolina.); Rothman Institute (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); Medstar Health (Washington D.C.); Northwell Health Lenox Hill Hospital (New York City); Midwest Orthopedics at Rush (Chicago, Illinois); Peachtree Orthopedic Clinic (Atlanta, Georgia); Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, Tennessee).

The procedures NOSA members offer include:

• Total or partial joint replacement (knee or hip)
• Revision of prior joint replacement (knee or hip)
• Spinal fusion
• Lumbar discectomy
• Neck surgery
• Shoulder joint replacement
• Rotator cuff tear repair
• Spinal procedures related to tumor treatment
• Sports injury surgery

For more information about NOSA, click here.