Taking The Centers to the Next Level
The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics reminds me of the classic proverb, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Another fitting example is “No pain, no gain,” and as we move forward—bringing together our diverse groups with different approaches and administrative practices into a single, cohesive, and streamlined organization to form one of the largest orthopaedic groups in the country—we will continue to feel growing pains. But as in life itself, it is how we approach and resolve these sometimes difficult and complicated issues that will allow us to grow and mature as an organization.
The Centers has enabled all of us to enjoy the benefits of a larger organization while also allowing each division to retain substantial independent decision making. In my past experiences with similar mergers, autonomy at the division level is completely removed, leaving no one happy, neither the physicians nor the employees. We will need to be more cohesive as time goes on, but we will be part of that decision making process that you don’t get in other organizations. This is what sets us apart.
When we went live on March 1, 2014, I am certain that I was not the only one wondering how it would all work out. I had never heard of Hyland, and I could not imagine how a computer software program was going to take payments and distribute them to the right division. Well, transition is never easy nor perfect, but we prevailed. It took some time to work out the kinks, and we still continue to fix issues as they arise, but unifying billing across the organization has been our first major success. And though there is still much to do, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, thanks to the dedicated team of The Centers administrators who continue to work together to find solutions to a broad range of problems and unexpected issues in order to ensure our mutual success.
As we move to the end of 2014 and look to next year, The Centers has asked the administrators to sit on committees to assist and focus on human resources and compliance. We will establish organizational-wide policies and procedures to ensure that all divisions are working in tandem in order to meet the goals of the entire organization; a compliance committee will establish guidelines to ensure we follow federal, state, and local laws, and a billing committee will continue to work on billing issues as they arise. By negotiating new contracts with our vendors, we will reduce overhead expenses and increase profits for the organization. Again, these won’t be easy achievements, but all of the division administrators are up to the task. We continue to have strategic planning meetings to review and retool our mission and not just plan for today but also for many years to come. We can build on past successes and tackle each new phase as we continue to move forward. I believe we have a great organization, and I am proud to be part of the team that will take The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics to the next level and to improve the quality of patient care and access to top-rated healthcare in the region.