1. Subspecialized surgeons are more efficient. Surgeons should focus on performing only a few different procedures, such as arthroscopy, instead of performing general orthopedics. “When you are doing the same thing every day, you can do it more efficiently, both quality- and time-wise,” says Craig Levitz, MD, an orthopedic surgeon and partner at Orlin & Cohen inin Rockville Centre, N.Y. “If you are setting up to do the same thing every day with the same team, you work quickly.” He says the average time it takes surgeons to perform an arthroscopy is 1-1.5 hours. With his ultra-specialization, he is able to perform the surgery in 10 minutes. “Regardless of the reimbursement curve, you are generating money,” he says.
2. Patients view fellowship-trained surgeons as more credible. Complete a fellowship in your area of interest, such as sports medicine, and then focus your practice on treating those types of patients. Dr. Levitz says doing so will give your practice with more credibility because there is a vast difference between physicians who might call themselves “sports medicine” physicians and those who actually go through accredited fellowships.
“Accredited fellowships have core training that big associations have created that include use of cutting edge techniques,” he says. “Starting in 2012, all sports medicine physicians have to have complete an accredited fellowship, and that will help the public determine whether they are truly seeing a sports medicine physician who is trained appropriately and doesn’t just have the title of ‘sports medicine physician’ as a marketing tool.”
3. You can market yourself as an “expert” in your subsepcialty. If you subspecialize, you can market yourself to the community as an “expert” in a certain type of surgery, which can enhance your reputation and potentially increase patient volume. “In a city where there are lots of orthopedic specialists, you have to have people focusing on their subspecialties,” says Peter Althausen, MD, an orthopedic surgeon at Reno Orthopaedic Clinic and chairman of the board of directors of The Orthopaedic Implant Company.. “If you do something 10 times per week, you’ll be better than someone who does them once per month.” While patients may not understand this concept, they will hear about your reputation as an excellent surgeon.
4. Athletic teams may call on you to examine or treat players after an injury. If an athlete has a fractured but the team physician is a knee surgeon, the athlete will most likely receive a diagnosis and treatment from a hand specialist. The team often relies upon the team physician to have a network of expert surgeons in the community to refer their players, and if you have a reputation for having good outcomes for a particular surgery, the player could be referred to you. This is especially true if you have experience treating a certain type of injury for specific sports, such as shoulder injuries for pitchers or knee injuries in soccer players.
