Pearl Precision Surgery: Changes In Women's Healthcare Quality and Affordability Amongst US Employers

PORTLAND, Ore., Feb. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- With healthcare costs continuing to rise, it's no surprise that employers are eager to find new solutions to better serve their employees and protect their bottom line. The COVID pandemic has posed additional challenges to these employers as staffing shortages plateau at a near all-time high. Dubbed the Great Resignation, the influx in job availability as employees seek to transition has encouraged employers to develop more attractive benefits as part of the compensation package for potential employees. Ditching a high deductible plan for an ERISA self-funded plan has become more common and has proved to be a positive evolution of healthcare in many ways to both the employer and employee.  Some of the country's largest benefit managers are now offering coverage with no upfront cost to employers and zero out of pocket for patients.

Seeking more cost-effective outpatient services by taking a cut of cost savings, these benefit managers are not only driving down egregious costs billed out for major events, such as surgery, but is also continuing to drive the quality of care up.

Pearl Precision Surgery, a national network focusing on laparoscopic outpatient surgical services for women, is one party partnering with benefit managers to drive this healthcare revolution. Offering services such as:

• Laparoscopic hysterectomies
• Pelvic reconstruction for prolapse and incontinence
• Fertility preservation
• Breast reconstruction

Their much-needed quality care for women is cutting down the needed recovery time, offering more PTO back to employees and removing any copays or deductibles.

"Our business model is one that truly embraces the Affordable Care Act, providing higher quality surgery through reduced complications, lower cost, and a better experience for the patient. We accomplish this with price transparency and high-volume surgeons that are willing to share their outcomes data and that are committed to value-based solutions." Says Dr. Richard Rosenfield, Standford trained minimally invasive GYN surgeon and founding partner of Pearl Precision Surgery.

With roughly 600,000 hysterectomies performed annually in the United States, and nearly 57,000 OBGYN doctors to perform them, the average of 10.7 surgeries annually puts the experience of the surgeon front and center.

Rosenfield goes on to say, "Many women defer to their trusted OBGYN even though many OBGYNs are very low volume surgeons, which is the prime risk factor of complications and poor recovery. Many OBGYNs are on call at the hospital or working through the night with baby deliveries, which can compromise surgical aptitude due to erratic sleep schedules or dilute the exposure to surgery due to office schedules with pressure to be a primary care provider, an expert in pregnancy, AND a surgeon – this horrible dynamic is literally built into the system and perpetuates poor surgical services in women's health care. This is what we seek to improve."

"We must look beyond the average cost of surgery itself, and also consider the additional costs due to complications," Rosenfield says. "Surgical complications can occur as frequently as one in three cases with lower volume surgeons, adding tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of surgery."

 This has encouraged employers and benefit consultants to seek specialists like Pearl Precision's vetted high-volume network of minimally invasive gynecologic surgeons. 

Performing hundreds of higher acuity surgeries like laparoscopic hysterectomy a year drives cost and complications down, and Rosenfield stresses the importance of groups like Pearl Precision Surgery that can offer more focused attention when a woman is presenting with a need for surgery.

The Pearl Precision network continues to grow as more employers and physicians continue to make the transition to value based care.

SOURCE Pearl Precision Surgery