Becker's Spine Review

37 HEALTHCARE NEWS Hospital for Special Surgery CEO: The balance between cost, efficiency and value By Mackenzie Garrity N ew York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery is among the leading orthopedic-focused hospitals in the nation. Lou Shapiro, CEO, of the hospital, shared in- sights into HSS' growth, reputation and plans for the future in an interview with Forbes. Between all the subspecialties within ortho- pedics, HSS is commonly noted for its sports medicine service. Mr. Shapiro was asked why sports medicine has become so central to its brand. "Sports medicine is certainly an im- portant part of what we do, but HSS leads the field across the full spectrum of musculoskel- etal conditions that this year in the U.S. alone will affect 127 million people from all walks of life at a cost of well over $800 billion," he told Forbes. As the No. 1 ranked hospital for orthopedics by U.S. News & World Report, HHS is now looking at new ways to transform healthcare through a local, global and digital scope. However, expanding its efforts comes with rising healthcare costs. "Musculoskeletal health is certainly one of the largest and fastest growing drivers of health- care costs," Mr. Shapiro told Forbes. "For ex- ample, those conditions account for more than 16 percent of total employer healthcare costs. at said, at HSS we understand that 'value' as more that just financial. Value means the best possible outcomes with the lowest possible impact on the bottom line, including time and performance that is unnecessarily lost." One strategy HSS has made to reduce costs and improve value is through its partner- ships. Most recently, HSS partnered with the Aspen (Colo.) Institute. Although HSS has solidified its reputation as a leader in orthopedics, Mr. Shapiro was asked what the hospital would look like if it had a fresh start. "Our unique model allows us to design person- alized care plans, develop efficient care path- ways to avoid unnecessary care and costs and ultimately improve the quality of life long aer patients have recovered," the CEO told Forbes. "In an ideal world, that's what it looks like for every patient no matter their provider, treat- ment or condition. In addressing the increas- ing burden of musculoskeletal injury and dis- ease, we need to leverage the most advanced knowledge, talent and expertise to generate standardized, repeatable procedures." n Cleveland Clinic fires physician over anti-Semitic comments By Ayla Ellison C leveland Clinic fired a resident physician after she shared anti-Semitic comments on social media, according to The Hill. The former employee, Lara Kollab, DO, had made an- ti-Semitic comments on social media for years, according to The Times of Israel, but Cleveland Clinic only recently discovered the comments. Dr. Kollab, who worked as a supervised resident at Cleveland Clinic from July to Sep- tember of 2018, reportedly called for violence against Jews in several tweets. In a screenshot of a 2012 tweet shared by The Times of Israel, Dr. Kollab said she would "purposely give all the yahood the wrong meds." Yahood is the Arabic word for Jews, according to The Hill. "She is no longer working at Cleveland Clinic. In no way do these beliefs reflect those of our organization. We fully embrace diversity, inclusion and a culture of safety and respect across our entire health system," Cleveland Clinic said in a statement issued Dec. 31. Dr. Kollab's social media accounts have been deactivat- ed, according to Cleveland.com. n Kaiser's annual revenue grows to $79B By Ayla Ellison O akland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente report- ed higher revenue and operating income for its nonprofit hospital and health plan units in 2018, but the system's net income declined year over year. Kaiser saw operating revenue increase to $79.7 billion in 2018. That's up 9.6 percent from operating revenue of $72.7 billion in 2017. The boost was partly attributable to the system's health plan unit. Kaiser saw health plan membership increase 3.5 per- cent year over year to 12.2 million members in 2018. "While the healthcare industry experienced considerable changes in 2018, we continued making great progress on delivering high-quality, affordable and accessible care and coverage to more people," Chairman and CEO Bernard J. Tyson said in a press release. "Our solid membership growth and financial performance were consistent with our plan." After factoring in expenses, Kaiser reported operating in- come of $1.9 billion, up from $1.7 billion in the year prior. Kaiser's net income dropped 36 percent year over year to $2.5 billion in 2018. The decline was largely attributable to volatility in the investment markets. n

• Cover