Athens Orthopedic Clinic has a multipronged approach to ensuring growth in the next year from new physician additions to clear revenue goals for its offices, CEO Michael Boblitz said.
He discussed his strategy to grow while maintaining revenues across AOC’s locations.
Note: This response was lightly edited.
Mr. Boblitz is speaking at Becker’s 22nd Annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC + The Future of Spine Conference, set for June 18-21 at the Swissotel Chicago.
Question: Where do you see the best opportunities to expand your practice in the next year?
Michael Boblitz: Athens Orthopedic Clinic is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Our tradition is rich in success with 232,000 patients cared for last year alone. With never ending challenges in healthcare, we are on a path to strengthen our organization through the strategic diversification of our clinical network.
Our wholly-owned Ambulatory Surgery Center Division is opening the new AOC Spine and Joint Replacement Surgery Center in August. This new ASC — our third — includes extended stay capabilities to better serve our 2,700 annual joint replacement patients, and 1,000 annual spine surgery patients. To support the new capacity, we have Clayton Wing, MD, our new adult reconstruction fellow from the Mayo Clinic, joining our practice in August.
At the same time, our footprint requires improved balance with the expansion of our regional “Health Campuses” outside of Athens. This includes the expansion of our Loganville Health Campus to support the recruitment of new providers, and the addition of Urgent Care, MRI, and Surgical Services at our Lake Oconee Health Campus.
The aim is to balance our clinical portfolio with 33% of our revenues in each of our three Health Campuses. Such diversification significantly enhances our balance sheet and credit position.
Looking beyond organic growth, we are exploring a wide range of strategic partnerships that includes potential mergers with like-minded private orthopedic practices, very innovative collaborations with the largest regional payers, and exploring new ways to create value with our hospital partners. In addition, we are forming exciting partnerships with the new University of Georgia School of Medicine, as well as regional Physician Assistant Schools at Augusta University and Georgia PCOM. We are playing an active role in job creation for Georgia.
AOC is having a record year in 2025, and we are positioned for tremendous success for decades to come.
