The Medicare Participating Heart Bypass Demonstration Project in Houston, Texas. The experience of St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Texas Heart Institute, and CardioVascular Care Providers, Inc.

While passage of a health care bill remains uncertain, the structure of health care in the United States is nonetheless changing rapidly. In some cases, physicians and hospitals are working more closely with one another to provide high-quality care at lower costs. Patients, physicians, hospitals, and insurers (including the Federal government) can all benefit from such an arrangement. We review here the experience with a program of bundled-free (physician and hospital) cardiovascular care for Medicare patients at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston, Texas.