Strategic partnerships are becoming increasingly valuable as the orthopedic landscape trends toward autonomy and independence, Robert Rhoad, MD, of Cincinnati-based OrthoCincy said.
From administrative tools to ASC growth, physician leaders like Dr. Rhoad pooled expertise and strategic insight to navigate operational complexity. The approach allows practices to maintain autonomy while accessing the infrastructure typically reserved for larger systems.
Dr. Rhoad discussed his outlook for independent orthopedic groups and how OrthoCincy is benefitting from its partnership with PELTO on an upcoming episode of the “Becker’s Spine and Orthopedics Podcast.”
Note: This is an edited excerpt.
Question: When you think about the orthopedic landscape as a whole, are you optimistic or nervous when it comes to independent groups?
Dr. Robert Rhoad: I think that we’ve seen pendulum swings over the years, and certainly for some time orthopedic surgeons would gear towards employment and in the years more recently towards private equity. Right now there is a very heightened interest in remaining independent, as our group is. Within that, it takes some extra work and ingenuity. I am one of the representatives to our board with PELTO, which is an organization that really empowers independent groups from east to west coast, and that’s been an exciting opportunity for us.
Q: Can you dive more into your partnership with PELTO? Where have you seen some of the most benefits?
RR: With PELTO we’re able to allow groups, with help and collaboration, to maintain their independence, if that’s what they so wish to do. We can leverage some of the collective different resources, whether that be ingenuity, whether it be brainstorming, shared services, etc. And sometimes when I’m in meetings, I think of this as we’re serving as a think tank for other similar-minded independent groups. Each group may have their own business focused challenge or opportunity, and we can share innovation and ideas. We do carry a pretty deep bench of expertise where we can offer advice and leadership, even some fractional services. These are definitely some growing areas of interest, and we see that organization growing. It’s been exciting as we figure out a lot of ways we can help people achieve what their goals are independently.
Q: Are there any particular changes you made in response to something you learn from another group?
RR: We are definitely interested in some of the opportunities to use our collective involvement. Sometimes that can be just innovation, whether it’s bouncing ideas in terms of back office artificial intelligence, even utilizing fractional advising between smaller groups and then development of other ancillary enterprises like building an ASC. Within our organization, if we’re evaluating an opportunity, if we’re evaluating a service, or even a technology, having this trustworthy organization where we can bounce an idea off one another, but get a good sounding board can be really valuable.
Q: Do you think collaborations like this will become inevitable for any spine, orthopedic, independent group to thrive?
RR: I don’t know. I think it probably depends on the goal and the nature of each group, and if the goal is to remain independent, and maybe you’re in an area where you don’t necessarily have the scale or the size to have some of those services, this would be an opportunity for someone to gain the expertise, the assistance, or join in, to be able to kind of enjoy a larger scale. This is maintaining independence, not another private equity venture, but it allows a group to reach out and have some of the different value areas — whether it be purchasing power, strategic resources — and still maintain that physician-led kind of structure.
