Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Consultants in West Chester/Middleton, Ohio, recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. Jerry Magone, MD, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon at the practice, explains how it has achieved such success.
Q: What do you think is the secret to a practice staying open and successful for 50 years?
Dr. Jerry Magone: I believe that the secret to our practice staying open and successful for 50 years has been predicated on the physicians that we bring into the practice sharing a work ethic that puts the practice first and the individual physician second. Philosophically we share ER on-call obligation, share equal time away from the practice and we share income. We value operating on a commercially-insured multi-CPT arthroscopic shoulder equally to an office consultation on a Medicaid patient with back pain. Our culture calls for physicians being sensitive to what our customer base wants and needs, which includes not only patients but referring physicians as well.
Q: What are the key lessons learned over the past 50 years that have allowed Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Consultants to remain in business?
JM: The key lessons learned over the past 50 years that have allowed OSMC to remain in business include being sensitive to what our customer wants and validating what our customer wants by regularly asking them the question. We survey the patients. We are sensitive and nimble about reacting to their requests. We also regularly ask our primary care referring base what we can do to make us their first choice for their orthopedic needs.
Q: Last year was a challenging financial year for many facilities. What did your organization do to limit the impact of the economic downturn on its operations?
JM: Last year was a challenging financial year for our organization as well. We began the year paying exquisite attention to our budget. We also made a presentation to all of our employees to bring them up to speed with the consequences of the economics and conveyed to them how important it was to take every opportunity to bring every patient into the practice that required our services. We provided creative incentives to have the staff bring patients in to fill every available time slot. In addition, the physicians regularly scheduled additional time in the office to accommodate that need after completing their OR time.
Q: What do you see as the major challenges currently facing orthopedics and sports medicine?
JM: Major challenges that we face I would imagine are identical to all, continuing to pay our staff a fair wage with ever decreasing reimbursements. We practice in a very aggressive managed care market. The uncertainty with the Medicare reimbursement changes — which commercials piggyback on top of — will continue to challenge our ability to plan and accommodate these changes.
Q: What opportunities exist for your organization to grow and improve efficiency this year?
JM: The opportunities in our organization to grow and improve efficiencies this year involve the ancillary services that today's orthopedic practices need to explore and develop in an effort to plug the financial holes that clinical practice provides. We upgraded our in-house MRI to a green machine that has significantly decreased our electrical cost and simultaneously shortened the per-scan time to allow more patients through the scanner. We have, as well, opened our fourth satellite office in an upstart community next to a one-year-old hospital. We've added on-call coverage to that institution to increase volume. We have started clinical trials within the office and, while in infancy, the program has generated passive revenue. Physical therapy was also added at one of the ancillary offices with the intent of extending it to all four of the practice locations. Finally, DME has as well been brought back in house to generate a positive revenue stream.
Q: What do you think you need to do to stay open another 50 years?
JM: We need to maintain our core values and maintain our physician staff culture of putting the patient and customer first and checking egos at the door.
Q: What are your feelings about being a part of an organization that has been a staple of Middletown for half of a century?
JM: I personally feel professionally satisfied that we can take responsibility for managing a successful local employer responsible for salaries, health insurance and a pension plan for a group of deserving individuals. In addition to our practice longevity, we have had employees with us for, in one case, 30 years, multiple employees for 25-30 years and others for 15-20 years. We have treated our physicians, staff and patients fairly and feel that has contributed to our longevity. We will need to continue this trend if we want to be around for another 50 years.
Learn more about Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Consultants.
Q: What do you think is the secret to a practice staying open and successful for 50 years?Dr. Jerry Magone: I believe that the secret to our practice staying open and successful for 50 years has been predicated on the physicians that we bring into the practice sharing a work ethic that puts the practice first and the individual physician second. Philosophically we share ER on-call obligation, share equal time away from the practice and we share income. We value operating on a commercially-insured multi-CPT arthroscopic shoulder equally to an office consultation on a Medicaid patient with back pain. Our culture calls for physicians being sensitive to what our customer base wants and needs, which includes not only patients but referring physicians as well.
Q: What are the key lessons learned over the past 50 years that have allowed Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Consultants to remain in business?
JM: The key lessons learned over the past 50 years that have allowed OSMC to remain in business include being sensitive to what our customer wants and validating what our customer wants by regularly asking them the question. We survey the patients. We are sensitive and nimble about reacting to their requests. We also regularly ask our primary care referring base what we can do to make us their first choice for their orthopedic needs.
Q: Last year was a challenging financial year for many facilities. What did your organization do to limit the impact of the economic downturn on its operations?
JM: Last year was a challenging financial year for our organization as well. We began the year paying exquisite attention to our budget. We also made a presentation to all of our employees to bring them up to speed with the consequences of the economics and conveyed to them how important it was to take every opportunity to bring every patient into the practice that required our services. We provided creative incentives to have the staff bring patients in to fill every available time slot. In addition, the physicians regularly scheduled additional time in the office to accommodate that need after completing their OR time.
Q: What do you see as the major challenges currently facing orthopedics and sports medicine?
JM: Major challenges that we face I would imagine are identical to all, continuing to pay our staff a fair wage with ever decreasing reimbursements. We practice in a very aggressive managed care market. The uncertainty with the Medicare reimbursement changes — which commercials piggyback on top of — will continue to challenge our ability to plan and accommodate these changes.
Q: What opportunities exist for your organization to grow and improve efficiency this year?
JM: The opportunities in our organization to grow and improve efficiencies this year involve the ancillary services that today's orthopedic practices need to explore and develop in an effort to plug the financial holes that clinical practice provides. We upgraded our in-house MRI to a green machine that has significantly decreased our electrical cost and simultaneously shortened the per-scan time to allow more patients through the scanner. We have, as well, opened our fourth satellite office in an upstart community next to a one-year-old hospital. We've added on-call coverage to that institution to increase volume. We have started clinical trials within the office and, while in infancy, the program has generated passive revenue. Physical therapy was also added at one of the ancillary offices with the intent of extending it to all four of the practice locations. Finally, DME has as well been brought back in house to generate a positive revenue stream.
Q: What do you think you need to do to stay open another 50 years?
JM: We need to maintain our core values and maintain our physician staff culture of putting the patient and customer first and checking egos at the door.
Q: What are your feelings about being a part of an organization that has been a staple of Middletown for half of a century?
JM: I personally feel professionally satisfied that we can take responsibility for managing a successful local employer responsible for salaries, health insurance and a pension plan for a group of deserving individuals. In addition to our practice longevity, we have had employees with us for, in one case, 30 years, multiple employees for 25-30 years and others for 15-20 years. We have treated our physicians, staff and patients fairly and feel that has contributed to our longevity. We will need to continue this trend if we want to be around for another 50 years.
Learn more about Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Consultants.