Data analytics is an important aspect for Eric Wieser, MD, vice president of Dallas-based Arlington Orthopedic Associates and board member of United Musculoskeletal Partners, to consider in his position.
Arlington Orthopedic Associates was part of Novum Orthopedics before Novum merged with UMP. Dr. Weiser spoke with Becker's about his expectations for the merger and how he plans to tackle challenges.
Note: Responses were edited for clarity and length.
Question: What are the advantages and challenges you're anticipating?
Dr. Eric Wieser: My partners and I see several advantages to our new partnership with UMP, but one of the most important ones is the support and expertise to expand in the value-based care space. UMP has approached value-based care in a very innovative way that will allow us to orchestrate care to directly improve patient care, outcomes and cost. The data and analytics capabilities empower us with payers and employers to prove that when you work with a UMP physician, you are going to get superior care in a more cost-effective manner.
Q: What are the key questions you're going to be looking at when recording data to really make this group's offerings the best of the best?
EW: The quality outcomes for the patient will always be our physicians’ top priority. However, the economics of medicine also needs to be taken into consideration. Being able to match quality with cost is best for stakeholders and drives patient satisfaction. So we're going to look at outcome management and see, for example, how someone with an ankle fracture recovers with different surgical and post-op approaches. Does the place of service have an impact? How much therapy do they need postoperatively? Do they need to go to 20 therapy sessions or can they do six and get a great home program? So it's really looking at the outcomes of the patient and it's looking at the patient's satisfaction. The data to support answering these questions will be readily available to us and allow us to take action.