For Jake Hartline, MD, the decision to build a sports medicine career in private practice rather than in a hospital-employed setting significantly informed how he practices medicine. Dr. Hartline, who earned his medical degree from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Medicine in 2020 and had completed a sports medicine fellowship in Pittsburgh, recently joined Panorama Orthopedics & Spine Center — one of the largest independent orthopedic practices in Colorado — as part of a wave of new physicians expanding the group’s Denver-area footprint.
He shared with Becker’s why he believes sports medicine specifically is suited to an independent model, and where he sees the trade-offs.
Why private practice, and why now
Dr. Hartline had trained at several prestigious health systems during his residency and fellowship, giving him exposure to both hospital-based and private practice settings.
“The decision to pursue private practice came down to having a greater influence over how I practice medicine,” he said. Sports medicine, in his view, depends heavily on three things: fast patient access, strong community-based relationships and the ability to manage a patient’s care across the full continuity of treatment. When he met with Panorama’s team, he said their practice model was built specifically around those three priorities. “It was a natural fit for me.”
Building relationships
Referral relationships — with local sports teams, gyms, athletic trainers and primary care providers — are foundational to a sports medicine practice, and Dr. Hartline said private practice gives him more control over how those relationships are built.
“My colleagues at Panorama are incredibly supportive,” he said, noting many already have coverage relationships with local colleges and high schools that he can help with or learn from.
He described a similar dynamic with primary care providers and physical therapists, where colleagues have been able to introduce him using their own existing connections so he can build his own ongoing relationships with referring physicians.
Speed and scheduling control
Dr. Hartline said his patients place a high value on returning quickly to the sports and activities they love, and that shapes how he approaches his own schedule and clinic workflow. In private practice, he said he has significant control over both, which he uses to optimize time spent answering patient questions and developing treatment plans in coordination with his practice’s physical therapy team.
That control matters most for acute injuries. “For many athletes, ligament tears and other injuries occur suddenly,” he said. “In those situations, timely access is critical so that we can evaluate the injury and begin treatment as quickly as possible.”
He said the combination of scheduling control and in-house imaging and physical therapy allows him to see these patients within 24 hours.
Trade-offs
Dr. Hartline acknowledged trade-offs to independence, noting that large health systems have scale and established upstream referral pathways. He added, however, that within a health system, practice growth can depend heavily on referrals from physicians who are employed by or closely aligned with that system.
In an independent practice, he said, physicians have the freedom to build referral relationships with physicians across the entire market, regardless of whether those physicians are employed by a health system or remain independent. He said this becomes increasingly important as a physician becomes more expert in specific conditions — pointing to colleagues at Panorama who have become particularly well-known for treating certain shoulder or hip issues, with the broader referral base providing an opportunity to foster relationships and build trust through access, service and outcomes.
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