In another example of marketing-obsessed healthcare facilities around America linking up with the most famous institutions, St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield, Mo., has  set up an exclusive affiliation with the Cleveland Clinic Heart and Vascular Institute. Chesterfield is an affluent suburb of St. Louis.  Quite rationally,  such prestigious institutions as the Cleveland Clinic, the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins and the Harvard-affiliated Partners HealthCare seek out connections with affluent places where patients have generous private insurance plans.

Becker’s Hospital Review reports that under the five-year deal, Cleveland Clinic will contract directly with payers and employers to create incentives for employees to seek cardiac care from St. Luke’s.

The affiliation will  give St. Luke’s access to Cleveland Clinic clinical trials, new technology, reviews of complex cases and continuing medical education, St. Luke’s hospital officials said. St. Luke’s specialists will be able to consult with Cleveland Clinic physicians to obtain a second opinion.

Cleveland Clinic will be a consultant for the 493-bed hospital, and St. Luke’s will pay the world-famous institution for its “expertise and guidance,” said St. Luke’s CEO Christine M. Candio. Operating as a group purchasing organization, Cleveland Clinic will also help St. Luke’s buy the latest technology at a lower cost.