1. Consider the baby boomer population. The baby boomer generation is one patient group sports medicine physicians should reach out to, says Craig Westin, MD, of Illinois Bone and Joint Institute and the Chicago Center for Orthopedics at Weiss Hospital in Chicago. The baby boomers are trending toward adopting a more active lifestyle, and Dr. Westin says reaching out to them to help with their strength training and functional fitness is another area of great opportunity in 2011.
“Sports medicine physicians will want to help build programs for [the baby boomer generation] so they are strong enough to sustain an active lifestyle,” he says. “Physicians can do this by getting involved with hospitals and community organizations to get the word out about [functional fitness or strength training] programs. They can give lectures about exercise as well.”
2. Offer physical therapy and imaging services onsite. Consider adding physical therapy or imaging services to the practice because those services are convenient for the patients and require very little of a surgeon’s time, says Michael Franks of Physician Business Services in Tampa, Fla. The onsite physical therapist can oversee a large portion of the non-surgical or rehabilitative care so the physician can focus on performing surgeries. Offering physical therapy and imaging services onsite is also convenient for the patient and has the potential to bring extra revenue into the practice. However, before adding these services, practice administrators should assess whether the additions are practical.
“Look at how much the new technology will cost, whether it can be leased and over what period of time and whether there is a place for it,” says Mr. Franks. “If you will lose an exam room to house the additional technology, you take away from the value of the product. You also need to consider who will staff that machine and who will schedule patients to use it. If you’re doing things correctly and building a business model, you’ll have been doing that before the decision is made.”
3. Offer Saturday morning clinics year-round. While many practices already have sports Saturday sports injury clinics open during the fall sports and football seasons, Angie Van Utrecht, director of operations at Orthopedic Specialists in Davenport, Iowa, says successful sports medicine practices should offer these clinics to athletes all year. The Saturday morning clinics can be helpful to athletes beyond football players, such as basketball players and weekend warriors. If these individuals know the clinic is available, they are likely to utilize its services when an injury occurs. As Ms. Van Utrecht points out, “soccer, basketball and volleyball (which are fall sports) have the highest rate of ACL tears.” Cheerleaders and track athletes are also likely to incur injuries during the winter and spring seasons.
3. Stay educated on latest procedural technology. Sports medicine is one of the most rapidly growing orthopedic subspecialties, which means treatment solutions are constantly evolving to better suit active patients. Physicians should stay aware of the newest procedures and technology that can help their patients heal quickly and have better outcomes, which often means learning about treatment for overuse injuries and ACL repair.
Walter Lowe, MD, of the University of Texas Health and Science Center and team physician for the Houston Texans, Houston Rockets and the University of Houston Cougars, says anatomic placement of ACL grafts in single or double bundle procedures and repair using platelet rich plasma are the latest trends in ACL treatment. While these methods are effective for immediate treatment, researchers are unable to tell whether the solutions are effective in preventing arthritis.
“One thing that’s a little frustrating for patients in sports medicine is that they want to be better immediately,” says Dr. Lowe. “We are definitely getting very good at restoring immediate function. However, it’s frustrating because we’d like to know these changes are going to prevent further conditions (such as arthritis) but really the only thing that’s going to prove it is to assess the patients 20 years from now.”
