At the 20th Annual Spine, Orthopedic + Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference, attendees had the opportunity to learn about "The Next Move for Orthopedic and Spine Supergroups."
The session was moderated by Scott Becker, JD, Founder, Becker's Healthcare; Partner, McGuire Woods LLC.
Panelists included:
- Nicholas Grosso, MD, FAAOS, President, The Center for Advanced Orthopaedics; President, MedVanta
- Michael Boblitz, Chief Executive Officer, Tallahassee Orthopedic Clinic
- Vishal Mehta, MD, President and Managing Partner, Fox Valley Orthopedics
Key Takeaways:
- The biggest external challenge for an orthopedic group is competition from hospital systems, who may try to put them out of business. To compete, focus on providing a better product, better accessibility, and better patient experience while finding local ties.
- Size matters for orthopedic groups — they must be large enough to cover technology costs and different hospitals, but not too large that it impacts the culture of the group. Access to PAs can help offset demand and changing leadership every 3-4 years can make it difficult to recruit.
- Small medical groups are facing a lot of threats, but the biggest threat is cost containment and increasing costs. To stay competitive, groups need to focus on horizontal integration and owning digital technology that can act as a physician extender. Leadership is important in running a successful group, and it involves building out a long-term strategic plan and getting physician leadership involved.
- Private equity firms come in and buy practices, decreasing salaries to create income, and aiming to replace the income lost by adding ancillaries or better payer contracting. Third-party negotiators can help in limited options situations, but the benefits are sometimes challenging.