Becker's Spine Review

16 PRACTICE MANAGEMENT Lawsuit targets Michigan orthopedic practice, alleges monopoly By Carly Behm T rinity Health and four surgeons have sued Grand Rapids-based Orthopaedic Associates of Michigan, accusing the practice of holding a monopoly in Kent County. e Livonia, Mich.-based health system alleges OAM has "engaged in a pattern and practice of unjustified enforcement of its noncompetition clauses to force physicians unhappy with its operations to leave Kent County," according to a lawsuit filed Jan. 31 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. OAM has the lion's share of the orthopedic market in Kent County — 64 percent, the lawsuit said. Its biggest competitor is Grand Rapids- based Spectrum Health, which holds a 23 percent share. e practice's noncompete clause precludes resigning physicians from practicing within a 50-mile radius of OAM for one year, the lawsuit said. Four surgeons, Timothy Henne, MD; Timothy Lenters, MD; John Healey, MD; and Geoffrey Sandman, MD — who are also plaintiffs — worked at River Valley Orthopedics, which was acquired by OAM in 2018. According to the lawsuit, the four submitted resignation letters in September effective March 16, 2023. e surgeons want to work for IHA, an affiliate of Trinity Health, as employed physicians, but OAM "has insisted on enforcement of its noncompete clause, and has refused to permit them to do so," the lawsuit said. e four surgeons perform most of their cases at Trinity-affiliated Saint Mary's, and the lawsuit argues enforcing noncompete clauses would affect that hospital's ability to provide orthopedic care and interfere with the orthopedic residency and emergency care. Kenneth Easton, MD, president of OAM, described the situation as "unfortunate" and said Trinity Health Michigan was, "utilizing whatever means necessary to achieve its desired business goals at the expense of one of the few independent orthopedic groups serving West Michigan," in a Feb. 2 email to Becker's. He said he expects the outcomes to follow similar cases in the past. "e core dispute revolves around an elaborate effort to nullify the industry-wide, common contractual obligations of physicians departing their existing practices," Dr. Easton said. "e remainder of the complaints in the suit are designed to leverage this core issue. Medical practices and hospital systems, including Trinity, routinely enforce such provisions in their physician contracts. Historically, such provisions have been upheld and enforced by the courts. We look forward to a favorable outcome." Trinity Health seeks a jury trial for damages and for the four surgeons to be released from any employment restrictions. e health system also wants a judge to rule OAM's noncompete clauses as violations of federal law. n How one of the nation's largest orthopedic MSOs plans to grow in 2023 By Claire Wallace U .S. Orthopaedic Partners, one of the largest orthopedic management services organizations in the U.S., made major strides in 2022. The MSO, founded in 2020, began 2022 with six affiliate practices, but acquired its ninth in 2022. U.S. Orthopaedic now supports 170 providers across 39 locations in Alabama and Mississippi. U.S. Orthopaedic Partners' CEO, Glen Silverman, has outlined the key ways that the MSO plans to grow in 2023. Question: How does your organization plan to grow in 2023? Glen Silverman: U.S. Orthopaedic Partners was founded in late 2020 on the thesis that creating a high functioning MSO would help create value for the physician owners of USOP. For the MSO to function at an optimum level we focus on the following value guiding principles: 1. Acquire high quality groups with strong reputations and strong growth trajectories. 2. Actively engage with those practices, adding additional expertise around practice growth opportunities, adding and expanding services lines, expense management and supply synergy opportunities. 3. Integration, management and support of the redundant business functions; accounting, payroll, compliance marketing etc. In 2023, the MSO, through its management team, will stay laser focused on these guiding principles and will continue to add value to the groups and physician owners we serve. Regarding growth, we plan to stay focused on the Southeastern United States and engage with orthopedic practices offering the opportunity for growth and support through our guiding principles. n

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