Becker's ASC Review

66 ORTHOPEDICS Why this Florida orthopedic surgeon retired early By Patsy Newitt J onathan Phillips, MD, former orthopedic surgeon at Orlando (Fla.) Health, joined Becker's to discuss how the potential CMS pay cut will affect patients and why he chose to retire early. Editor's note: is interview was edited lightly for clarity and length. Question: If CMS follows through with its proposed 4.42 percent physician pay cut, how will physicians & patients be affected? Dr. Jonathan Phillips: I recently retired at the age of 62. ere were many reasons, but the most important was a decrease in salary of 10 percent over a two-year period as a result of a contract renegotiation with my employer. A decrease of 4.4 percent by CMS will effectively be a greater than 10 percent salary loss in real terms, given 8 percent inflation. We only have to look at the recent spike of resignations by senior physicians in the United States to predict what's going to happen. We are already looking at a shortage of thousands of doctors over the next several years, and this will exacerbate the problem hugely. Access to timely healthcare in the United States will be severely harmed, and patients will suffer. I am one of those patients now, and I'm concerned for the future of my own healthcare. It's inconceivable to me that anyone within administration at CMS would accept a 4.4 percent pay cut. It just does not happen.e same goes for hospital administrators who increasingly expect physicians to work longer hours for less money so they can profit from our efforts. ere is a parallel in the nursing profession, and we have seen the wave of resignations and retirements here, too. Q: How will declining physician pay alter the healthcare industry? JP: Until our government realizes that they have created a hugely toxic environment, which healthcare workers increasingly decide not to tolerate, the standard of medicine in this country will continue to decline. e disempowerment, disrespect and interference in clinical practice at all levels in this country is depressing. I trained in the National Health Service in the U.K. and came to the U.S. a long time ago to escape the government's stupidity in that land. Sadly, we are going in the same direction in my adopted nation. n US Orthopaedic Partners acquires 9th practice, expands network to 170 providers By Alan Condon U .S. Orthopaedic Partners, a private equity-backed management services organization, has acquired Bienville Orthopaedic Specialists of Mississippi, its fifth practice in the state and ninth in total. The platform now supports more than 170 providers across 39 locations in Alabama and Mississippi. Ninety- six of those providers are in Mississippi, making USOP the largest network of orthopedic providers in the state, according to an Aug. 17 news release. "There is no secret to our platform's success; our physician partners actively seek to align with other like-minded physicians," Glen Silverman, CEO of USOP, said in the release. "We have experienced strong targeted growth since our inception and will continue to stay focused on expanding our footprint with groups like Bienville that are top in class and align perfectly with the USOP platform." Founded in 1981, Bienville Orthopaedic Specialists has grown to 32 providers with 5 locations across the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The group comprises 17 physicians and 15 physician extenders, offering full-service orthopedic care in the specialties of spine, joint replacement, hand and wrist, shoulder and elbow, foot and ankle, sports medicine and pain management. Bienville said it is South Mississippi's leader in robotic surgery of the spine, hip and knee. "Our dedicated staff work hard to ensure our patients have a great experience with a focus on personalized care," said Will Brancamp, CEO of Bienville Orthopaedic Specialists. "Adding the support from the USOP platform will only further allow our doctors to focus on high-quality, trusted care while maintaining the latest technological advancements that our patients deserve and have come to expect." n MPowerHealth launches digital musculoskeletal platform By Marcus Robertson Digital health company MPowerHealth launched a digital musculoskeletal care platform. The platform, 360CareNav, features digital health tools including telehealth, remote physiological monitoring and care coordination across providers, the company said Aug. 8. It is intended to reduce the cost of care, and its cost algorithms are powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence that gets smarter over time. n

• Cover