Becker's Spine Review

37 PRACTICE MANAGEMENT Why Florida? HSS CEO Louis Shapiro & Dr. David Altchek elaborate By Eric Oliver N ew York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery opened a 60,000-square-foot hospital in West Palm Beach, Fla., Jan. 27, appointing noted orthopedic surgeon David Altchek, MD, as medical director. e expansion was the second HSS announced in late January. Here, HSS President and CEO Louis Shapiro explains what HSS brings to Florida and elaborates on what's next for the health system. Note: Responses were edited for style and content. Question: Why was it important for HSS to open a loca- tion in Florida? Louis Shapiro: While HSS attracts patients from all 50 states and over 80 countries, we saw nearly 3,000 Floridians at our main cam- pus in New York City in 2019 alone. ere is definitely a demand for high-quality orthopedic care in this region, and a great opportunity for us to extend our impact. e day we opened, we already had al- most 1,000 patient appointments scheduled. Q: Is HSS considering additional locations in Florida, or are you taking a wait-and-see approach? LS: At this point, HSS Florida includes both the new facility in West Palm Beach as well as an office in Wellington, Fla. Any further expan- sion is not planned at this time. Q: This is the second expansion for HSS in a week. Are there more markets you're looking to get established in? LS: HSS has the responsibility and opportunity to advance muscu- loskeletal care and quality of life in many places, and in many ways. Among those ways is developing our own new facilities closer to where people live and work such as HSS Florida, and also HSS Brook- lyn, which opened last month, and collaborations such as in Aspen, Colo., and more recently announced support for a new regional med- ical center in Cartagena, Colombia. We look forward to opening oth- er locations and extending our network through select partnerships where the need and desire is strongest. Q: Will the move to Florida subtract from the patient vol- umes in New York? LS: We do not anticipate this, as we are continuing to demonstrate strong growth in New York as well. In addition to serving many new patients in the Florida community that will stay local, we anticipate that some Florida residents will still come to our main campus in New York, depending on their condition. n Here, sports medicine surgeon and HSS Florida Founding Medical Director David Altchek, MD, shared his goals for the Florida outpost: Question: What will you bring to HSS Florida? Dr. David Altchek: I am thrilled to be the founding medical director of HSS Florida. Bringing HSS to Florida has been a particular passion of mine for a long time now. As a local homeowner, I am very familiar with the area and look forward to working with some of the world's most highly skilled surgeons, physicians and other specialists at this new facili- ty. We plan to bring to HSS Florida the same level of quality and amazing patient experience that everyone has come to expect in New York. Q: Some key figures in the sports medicine institute made the move with you to Florida. How will that affect the institute? DA: HSS Florida consists of surgeons and physicians from nu- merous specialties including sports medicine, hand and upper extremity, joint replacement, physiatry, and trauma. The HSS Sports Medicine Institute is not tied to one location and is a team of physicians dedicated to treating active individuals of all ages. The geographic footprint includes the main campus on the Upper East Side [and] our new West Side location, as well as facilities in Paramus, N.J., Westchester, N.Y., Stamford, Conn., and now also West Palm Beach. Q: What do you want patients to expect from HSS Florida? DA: is new facility and team are designed to provide patients an unparalleled experience with the highest levels of care and customer service. Patients can expect to receive specialized treatment that is customized to each patient's need. HSS Florida offers a convenient option for area residents who seek care from the country's No. 1 ranked orthopedic hospital. n Maine orthopedic practice reports email hack By Laura Dyrda C entral Maine Orthopaedics found that an em- ployee's email was hacked in November 2019, potentially exposing some patient information. Central Maine Orthopaedics, which is part of Spectrum Health, reported that on Nov. 5, 2019, there was unau- thorized access to an employee's email account. The practice has since investigated the incident and found patient information may have been contained in the email account, including names, birth dates, addresses and health insurance information. The health system reported no indication of patient in- formation misuse, but letters were mailed to all patients with information that may have been exposed. Cybersecurity breaches are becoming more common among physician practices in addition to hospitals and health systems. Last week, the owner of Miramar, Fla.- based The Center for Facial Restoration Richard Davis, MD, reported that his server was infected with ransom- ware also in November 2019 and that patients were now receiving ransomware demands from cybercriminals that threatened to make their information public unless they paid the ransom. n

• Cover