Patient experience and satisfaction is incredibly important in healthcare today, and some orthopedic surgeons are going to great lengths to make their practice more convenient and accessible to patients.
Orthopedic surgeons at Allentown, Pa.-based Coordinated Health will now schedule elective orthopedic surgeries on Saturdays to better serve patients who are busy during the week or those who have sports injuries on the weekend. Currently, Coordinated Health surgeons are the only orthopedists in the region offering weekend hours, but others may not be far behind.
Patients are dealing with several converging factors that could make access to orthopedic care difficult:
• Higher deductibles
• Inability to miss work
• Lack of specialists in the emergency room
Saturday hours are attractive because patients who are unable to miss work during the week for physician visits or surgical procedures can have their surgery scheduled conveniently on the weekend. They don't have to go to the emergency room with chronic or acute problems — where they may or may not see the right specialist — and they can receive coordinated care.
Coordinated Health Saturday services also include imaging and physical therapy as well. This is more convenient for young athletes and weekend warriors who might suffer a strain or sprain and need orthopedic care. The group also has extended Friday night hours to cover high school football games and orthopedic surgeons are on call for injuries that arise.
This alternative to the emergency room not only provides better focused orthopedic care to the patients, but also lowers overall cost and wait times. Non-emergent patients often wait in the emergency room for hours until they're seen, but at Coordinated Health's extended hours and weekend clinic, orthopedic patient with fractures can walk-in for real-time services.
"Today customers expect greater simplicity and accessibility in every aspect of their lives," said Coordinated Health CEO Emil Dilorio, MD. "We've listened carefully to our patients and understand that we need to assemble and provide them with flexible hours, immediate support and locations near and between their homes and workplaces. Coordinated Health will continue to enhance and expand services that deliver on that need."
Other groups such as Peachtree Orthopaedic Clinic in Atlanta offer Saturday morning injury clinics staffed by board-certified orthopedic surgeons. Others are taking the urgent care approach. Raleigh (N.C.) Orthopaedic Urgent Care has Saturday hours from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to treat urgent orthopedic injuries including broken bones, sprains and strains, minor dislocations and sports-related injuries. Raleigh Orthopaedic Urgent Care is staffed by nurse practitioners and certified physician assistants with an orthopedic surgeon on call.
In some cases, urgent care patient can undergo diagnostic testing and then outpatient surgery if the practice includes an ambulatory surgery center. The evening and weekend hours associated with urgent care clinics have become so popular that Alejandro Badia, MD, has developed an orthopedic urgent care clinic franchise, OrthoNOW, to help independent physician practices develop and maintain those services. Dr. Badia is CEO and CMO at OrthoNOW Doral (Fla.), and clinics are sprouting up across the United States.
There are a few hurdles to setting up urgent care and weekend hours — including staffing, materials management, scheduling, marketing and insurance coverage — but once the clinic is running there are huge benefits. Patient volume varies by season, but many clinics have experienced a return on investment. Access Sports Medicine and Orthopaedics in Exeter, N.H., has had a walk-in clinic and sees patients the same day to expedite recover and deliver quality care.
"There are several other walk-in or urgent care centers opening up throughout our area," says Joshua Siegel, MD, Sports Medicine Director at Access Sports Medicine & Orthopaedics and founding member of Northeast Surgical Care, an ambulatory surgery center. "Some are affiliated with hospitals and are extensions of the hospital ER. Others are independent urgent care centers or are pharmacy-based walk-in clinics. It has become the trend in the healthcare market for this consumer-based approach to doctor visits."
But will it remain profitable enough to become a viable business strategy going forward?
"Absolutely," says Dr. Siegel. "People want access to everything more quickly than ever. They are becoming more savvy as healthcare consumers and they are willing to shop around. By providing low-cost services, quickly and efficiently and in a location that is convenient to the patient, we hope to continue to benefit from this urgent care/walk-in/orthopedic model moving forward."