On 1 January 1998 a cooperation between an university hospital and a peripheral general hospital was initiated with the aim of reducing waiting lists and health care costs. Surgical patients initially referred to the Department of Visceral and Transplantation Surgery of the University of Bern (Inselspital) were evaluated and selected in the outpatient clinic for an operation in the peripheral hospital Grosshöchstetten. The operation and postoperative care in Grosshöchstetten was performed by a team from the university department according to the standard concept also utilized at the university hospital.
The 574 patients referred to the university and operated on in Grosshöchstetten during a 2-year period had a morbidity rate of 3.5%, a reoperation rate of 1.0% and a mortality rate of 0.15%. The mean hospital stay was 6.3 days. The quality evaluation performed by questionnaires to patients and physicians showed an overall satisfaction rate of 95%. The cooperation resulted in reduction of the overall costs in both hospitals, and the patients' involved health insurances profited from substantially lower costs per case.
Health care costs in both hospitals as well as the waiting list at the university hospital were markedly reduced during this 2-years trial, with an overall satisfaction rate of 95%. This form of cooperation of an university with a peripheral hospital represents a new and valuable model for effective reduction of health care costs.