During the past few years, the Cleveland Clinic has announced a series of partnerships with hospital systems nationwide and - even - internationally.
But Ann Huston, who is the chief strategy officer at the Clinic, explains that this one is different.
"We don't have other relationships where we're really looking across the entire enterprise and saying where can we do this better, together, as opposed to individually," Huston says.
ProMedica is a large health system with 14,000 employees and 11 hospitals. The two non-profit health systems have signed a memorandum of understanding. And they are expected to formalize the agreement within months.
Meanwhile, a steering committee that includes executives from both health systems will look for ways the Clinic and ProMedica could collaborate in both clinical and operational areas. For example, they may be able to reduce costs on supplies by using their combined size to negotiate better prices.
Patients aren't likely to see a difference in the immediate care they receive from their personal doctor. However, the two systems may share quality measures and together try to figure out how to make money by helping patients get healthier - as opposed to charging for every procedure and office visit.
"The most exciting part of this is getting ready for a world that is changing from a volume-based care world to a value-based care world," Huston says.