Orthopedic surgeon Matthew Lavery, MD, vision as Indianapolis-based OrthoIndy's new president will continue on a flurry of wins for the practice.
He succeeds Edward Hellman, MD, who established a dyad leadership model, pioneered PELTO Health Partners, co-founded the Indiana Physicians Health Alliance, facilitated mergers and announced the upcoming OrthoIndiana merger during his time as president.
Dr. Lavery is in his 16th year at OrthoIndy and has spent 10 of those years working closely with leadership.
"I've had enough time both as a practicing clinician and as a member of our board of directors, to see the things we do well and the areas where we need improvement," Dr. Lavery told Becker's. "It's been fun to be a part of the process and how we solve those things through our committee structures that we have here at OrthoIndy … One of the things I'm excited about is getting an opportunity at a seat that helps define the agenda for which challenges the board decides they want to tackle. Standard board members and people on committees, they help solve the problems. They don't necessarily drive you as the person who sits in the presidential seat."
Dr. Lavery has sat on the board through three different presidencies, and each leadership term was defined by unique goals and milestones. He also plans to leverage a background in business education to elevate the work of his predecessor.
"Dr. Hellman's focus was certainly towards growth and expansion of the practice through some of the merger talks that we've had," Dr. Lavery said. "We've gotten to this point where now those are really far along the pathway, and now it's time to execute and figure out how to bring those benefits to our patients and how to make those things make sense on a day-to-day basis."
Some of the specifics include navigating challenges that come with adding a newly merged practice, improving day-to-day processes and creating net benefits for patients.
OrthoIndy has a rich history of clinical research and tracking patient outcomes, and those data will be especially important, Dr. Lavery said.
"We've always tracked the quality of data and over the years have gotten better and better at it," Dr. Lavery said. "A lot of companies track data, and the challenge is always not to overburden and overload your patients with questionnaires and survey fatigue. It's a balance. I think it's difficult for all organizations to strike it, but because we have such a strong history of interestingly, being a private practice that does research and collects patient reported outcome measures, I think that process is in place now."
Another challenge OrthoIndy and throughout healthcare groups nationwide is payer relationships. Dr. Lavery said he wants to take an approach from the front end of the dynamic.
"I'm a big believer in sort of working backwards from your end user," he said. "What do they need? What are they looking for? I think there's some interesting things being discussed. One of the things we struggle with is how to deal with questions of prior authorization … The more we can address those issues on the front end, the more aware we are as a practice of those things and what it is those payers are looking for and need … Physicians don't want to deal with prior authorization. They just feel like it's a questioning of their clinical judgment. But the flip side of it is, it's the reality of the world we live in. It's something that I don't see going away anytime soon, and I think the better solution is to flip it on its head and go to the insurance companies and ask, "What is it you need from us?" Then, within reason, tailoring how we provide them information to sort of meet those needs and get patients their care in a timely fashion."
When he thinks about Dr. Hellman and the time he spent working with him, one key lesson stands out to him.
"Don't constantly keep your head in the sand and not look at the outside world," Dr. Lavery said. "If you're only internally focused you can sometimes miss big opportunities and the world can pass you by. I think the challenge is balancing how much time, energy and effort you place on those external opportunities and how much do you continue to improve your own internal processes. How do you provide patients with the best end-to-end experience? I really think that that's a thing that we don't want to lose sight of, and we always want to continue to be at the forefront."