PELTO Health Partners, a physician-owned alternative to private equity management service organizations, has grown its value for practices looking to save operational costs and learn from other leaders across the country.
The shift has been especially noticeable in PELTO’s latest addition — Tri-City Orthopaedic Clinic in Kennewick, Wash.
Scott Faringer, CEO of Tri-City Orthopaedic Clinic, was collaborating with three other physician groups when CEO Scott Faringer learned about PELTO.
“We’ve always collaborated with other independent practices in the state to ward off pressures from hospital systems and hedge fund groups,” Mr. Faringer told Becker’s. “In collaborating with them, they said, ‘Hey, you seem like a great fit for PELTO,’ PELTO is very thorough in making sure that any member is independent. After a discussion, we found significant savings right away with some of the projects that culture had put in place.”
Right off the bat, Mr. Faringer said PELTO offered advantages in its existing partnerships and infrastructures.
“We own an ASC, and we’re a member of a large purchasing organization. PELTO seemed to concentrate on areas that you don’t see within a GPO like our electronic health record contracts with them; our PAC system, which we use to store our radiologic imaging and with our benefits broker. There were three large areas immediately that would show us savings.”
Mr. Faringer said he’s also excited about the deeper collaboration efforts within the PELTO network.
“They have a chat board where we’re able to ask questions,” he said. “When members need to purchase an MRI, they collaborate. They may find that several members need an MRI so they’re able to go to market with a much larger purchase, which adds for extra savings. With us, we’re starting to look for new sterilizers in our surgery center, and we’re already working with PELTO to look at options for that.”
These types of interactions signal a new evolution for the group, which was created as an option for practices who wanted to avoid private equity entanglements.
When PELTO formed, Chairman Frank Aluisio, MD, said there was a strong focus on maintaining groups’ autonomy and collaborations for contracts. With many practices aware of PELTO’s value proposition, groups are approaching PELTO with their own goals in mind.
“It’s really turned into a think tank where all the practices involved are sharing their best practices, and we’re all learning from each other to make each of us better,” he said. “That’s even more exciting in the cost savings part. People are coming in because of the efficiencies provided in the end the cost saving. But everyone’s getting a lot more out of it now, just by sharing everything they do best.”
