Nicholas Grosso, MD, president of Bethesda, Md.-based The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics, discusses the biggest challenges and best opportunities for the practice in the coming years.
Question: What are the top two to three challenges you're facing heading into 2019?
Dr. Nicholas Grosso: The No. 1 challenge for everyone in the healthcare industry right now (and for the past three to four years) is uncertainty. No one knows where the market is headed with so much upheaval. Before, when there was stable fee-for-service types of reimbursement, the 'battle lines' were drawn and everyone knew where they fit in the scheme. Now with alternate payment models, who's going to drive these models is still very much in question. For orthopedics in general and CAO in particular, both a challenge and a priority now is to be a leader in establishing these alternative payment models in our region.
The second challenge for CAO is continuing consolidation, and with that, continuing to standardize policies and procedures, and ensure compliance and risk management. What keeps me — and likely any leader of a large organization — up at night is risk exposure and compliance measures, and as CAO continues grows, that's what we’re focused on.
Q: What technology are you most excited about in the future?
NG: While there are lots of exciting clinical advances and medical innovations coming down the pipeline, I'm most excited about consolidating all of our EMRs into one system that's orthopedic-specific for the purposes of gathering useful data, running alternate payment models and identifying divisions of CAO who are excelling. This platform will allow us to gather and compare data across all divisions in an easy-to-use way, so having a single EMR system to gather the information we need is what we're really looking forward to achieving.
Q: What is your best opportunity for growth?
NG: As we continue to further expand our reach beyond the D.C., Maryland and Northern Virginia region, we're always looking to add new groups and partners to CAO. Alternate payment models also offer an opportunity for growth if we can structure them in a way that allows us to approach population health and coordinate care for the best clinical outcome for patients.
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For a deeper dive into the future of orthopedics, attend the Becker's 17th Annual Future of Spine + Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management-Driven ASC in Chicago, June 13-5, 2019. Click here to learn more and register.