Becker's Spine Review

32 PRACTICE MANAGEMENT "We are very comfortable with what we've done in the past and whenever a complication occurs we think it may be the result of the change," says Dr. Shaia. "But the important thing is to change for a good reason and based on evidence that shows change is better. at's the way we grow and become a better team long-term." e next step in the process is considering costs; Ortho- Virginia worked with Signature Healthcare to participate in the Medicare Bundles Price Program for hip and knee replacement surgery. Practices with enough volume may be able to participate directly, but a partner can provide valuable services as the healthcare environment evolves. "ere are a lot of procedures and policies and Medicare rule changes," says Dr. Shaia. "e rules could change three or six months aer you join the program. It's a learning process. But if you have a good partner, there is tremendous opportu- nity for you to learn about your patients and objectively see how your surgeons are doing. You can track complications and readmissions to ultimately deliver better care." Dr. Shaia and his colleagues hope to move toward more risk contracting in the future.. Eventually, the practice hopes to cater to large employers looking for cost-effective and quality care. "e biggest change for physicians has been taking up more responsibility for the total care package, whether it's for bundled pricing or at-risk contracts," says Dr. Shaia. "Phy- sicians are now managing the whole episode of care. In our practice, we have begun to incorporate more non-operative physicians as well to manage a wider spectrum of patients." e OrthoVirginia surgeons practice from separate locations across the state, but communicate with each other on diagnosis and treatment methodology to reduce complica- tions and variation in care. ey can also save on malpractice insurance, supply purchase and business office functions when purchasing as a large group. "Independent physicians can't afford to purchase the equipment they need to succeed in data reporting," says Dr. Shaia. "ey can't afford the manpower to become compliant with meaningful use or PQRS, or the updated EMR. at leaves physicians with the choice of selling their practice to the hospital, which isn't desirable, or partnering with other physicians. Our model allows us to help small practices in rural areas stay current and independent." e practice is integrating three totally distinct infor- mation systems and will eventually have one system for the single large group. OrthoVirginia will be ready to roll out Epic implementation in 2017, but without the merger im- plementing a system as sophisticated as Epic wouldn't have been possible. "We are looking at connecting 100 physicians in the state," says Dr. Shaia. "We wouldn't have taken on that task in the past, but in order to spread the fixed cost, we need to connect everyone. en we'll also have a chance to monitor the prac- tice across the state in real-time. We've been tremendously independent in the past and that has been good for us. Now the environment says we have to work together to become successful in the future." n Uniquely processed allograft tissue with high levels of naturally occurring growth factors that play a key role in bone remodeling such as BMP-2, BMP-7, aFGF, and TGF-β1. * Learn more about OsteoAMP at www.OsteoAMP.com Allogeneic Morphogenetic Proteins Come visit AAOS booth #1851 to learn more about OsteoAMP and Bioventus Surgical. Active Healing Through Orthobiologics * Data on file RPT-000327; data from a single lot of OsteoAMP sponge product. © 2015 Bioventus, LLC. All rights reserved. All trademarks are the exclusive property of Bioventus, LLC. SMK-001594 01/16

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