With its slogan “Every life deserves world-class care,” the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio has staked out a distinctive role in consumercentric, innovative healthcare—including the development and use of medical IT. Founded in 1921, the clinic is known for its high standards of research and practice and its ongoing role in fostering innovation and reducing costs.
Since the late 1990s, U.S. News and World Report has ranked it number one in cardiac care. The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, a nonprofit organization that owns and operates the hospital system, has an entrepreneurial arm called Cleveland Clinic Innovations (CCI), which develops and commercializes products and services based on research and practice breakthroughs by physicians and other clinic employees.
The clinic’s use of robotically assisted heart surgery and heart valve repair, for example, was initially developed through CCI. In total, more than 35 enterprises have been spun off from CCI activity, and the organization is currently helping other hospitals create similar initiatives.