Maintaining independence is among the biggest challenges facing orthopedic groups amid significant industry consolidation, but migrating more higher-acuity cases to the outpatient setting and expanding ambulatory strategies represent key growth opportunities.
Two orthopedic group CEOs expand on how they are looking at growth in 2022.
Note: Responses are lightly edited for style and clarity.
Kim Mikes, RN. CEO, Hoag Orthopedic Institute (Irvine, Calif.): As one of the largest providers of orthopedic care in the Western region of the U.S., Hoag Orthopedic Institute has the opportunity to enhance our efforts to highlight what differentiates us in our markets. We are an orthopedic and spine specialty hospital and ASC network. Our team of physicians and staff members are experts at orthopedic and spine care. With that expertise comes all the benefits of quality outcomes, high volume, standardized value-based care and low infection rates. We need to ensure that the Southern California community knows that Hoag Orthopedic Institute is where you come for orthopedic and spine care. We are also increasing our ability to take care of higher-acuity orthopedic and spine patients. Our biggest growth opportunity will be in the higher-acuity spine market.
Ed Hellman, MD. President and interim CEO, OrthoIndy (Indianapolis): Because we have a physician-owned surgical hospital, we're sort of a hybrid: We're seeing some of the advantages and some of the stresses that practices see, and some of the advantages and stresses that hospitals see. Clearly we need to develop and expand our outpatient strategy, because just like the community hospital down the road, procedures are going to move out of the hospital to an ASC. We need to have those ASCs positioned in the community where we can serve patients close to home, efficiently and with a positive margin, as we move out of the hospital. That's likely our biggest potential for growth. We're looking at a hub-and-spoke model. I think having clinics that are closer to home that can provide services where patients live and work, and bringing only the higher-acuity procedures to our main hospital location makes the most sense.