Employers Centers of Excellence Network

The Employers Centers of Excellence Network (ECEN) provides employees access to demonstrated high-quality care for elective surgeries at meticulously selected Centers of Excellence (CoE) across the United States. Through the ECEN, patients receive care at little or no cost, and their employers gain predictable health care costs and downstream savings.

The ECEN was established based on and inspired by PBGH members’ interest in supporting value-based purchasing and the program aligns with PBGH’s ongoing mission to be a change agent creating increased value in the health care system through purchaser collaboration, innovation and action and through the spread of best practices. In early 2013, a group of eight forward-thinking self-insured employers came together to help PBGH design the ECEN program with the aim of selecting hospitals and surgeons throughout the nation for hip and knee replacements. The ECEN later expanded to offer spine and bariatric procedures and certain oncology services.

By encouraging employees to utilize carefully selected, high-quality hospitals and surgeons for these procedures, the ECEN reduced variation in quality and cost and increased the likelihood of optimal patient outcomes. Quality improvements and decreased costs resulted from improved professional care coordination, team attention to evidence-based guidelines, better discharge planning to avoid preventable readmissions, increased uniformity of practice and measurement and feedback of patient outcomes.

Since its launch, the ECEN received very positive reviews from employers and patients alike, with 98% of patients recommending the program.