New Business: Growing The Centers' Brand
From the first day we launched as The Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics, our sheer size and geographic footprint earned us the right to be a significant player in orthopaedics and the larger healthcare landscape. Prudently, we focused on building a strong and scalable foundation for our fledgling organization. We have executed nicely against this goal, with a variety of initiatives – internal and external – transforming our operations and bringing us closer to our vision of being a truly unified organization. This has manifested itself in many ways, from starting to develop an ideal CAO office to our compliance program, customer service training and malpractice protocols. While there are still areas in need of improvement, we have made strong strides with integration. Now is the time, I feel, to harness the incredible talent we have within CAO to start thinking big and boldly about new business opportunities to spur our collective growth. The Centers can – and should – be the dominant force for musculoskeletal care in every market we touch.
With input from our seasoned physicians and our youngest doctors, who likely are most in touch with technology and trends that matter to Millennials, a generation that now represents the largest segment of the U.S. workforce, we can establish a New Business Committee empowered to seek out and vet the innumerable opportunities our size and stature presents. To be clear, a New Business Committee’s mission would be to first ensure that we do not create additional competition for our existing Care Centers, rather we would be pioneering growth in underserved and underutilized areas. Growth would never be at the detriment of our existing lines of business – it would only serve to enhance revenue streams and even create new ones.
If we don’t become stronger within our footprint of Care Centers, our competition will step in and reap the rewards. We already have a seat at the table with large groups within our industry such as The OrthoForum, representing nearly 3,000 physicians across 36 states. However, the larger chance for growth is to become the indisputable best option for major primary care groups like Privia Health, where we can all benefit from previously untapped avenues for referrals. While we are already engaged in productive conversations with Privia Health, our expansion will help bolster our claim to be the highest-quality, most convenient and accessible, and lowest cost orthopaedic care provider in the region. As a company, CAO is uniquely positioned to claim this mantle, which puts us at a distinct advantage against large health systems and other sizeable private practice groups.
Along with increasing our healthcare presence in areas where quality orthopaedic care is currently lacking, I’m very excited about the possibilities of thinking much bigger. For example, the current healthcare climate is ripe for development of a large, state-of-the-art medical complex, placing multiple disciplines under one roof as the “one-stop shop” for a patient’s medical needs. With data from Healthgrades revealing 62 percent of patients cite convenience as their primary motivator when booking a medical appointment, The Centers can provide an unmatched value proposition. And this is only scratching at the surface of what we can collectively achieve.
Aligned with this overarching new business strategy, we can explore a variety of promising paths for revenue growth. For instance, we can bring a neurologist into the fold to offer a comprehensive concussion program, a medical area with great synergies to orthopaedics. Many patients with head trauma also experience an associated musculoskeletal issue such as a sprained neck. An ESPN-led survey found nearly 9 in 10 parents are concerned about athletics and the risk of concussions, creating a new business opportunity for CAO to become a leader in this growing practice and further connecting our brand with what families care about most.
The Centers’ potential for driving new business to create ancillary revenue streams is unlimited. Think about it, we can embrace forward-thinking ideas to build core competencies around a variety of athletic verticals – programs specifically designed for runners, golfers, tennis and much more. In all of these efforts, we are significantly differentiating ourselves from the competition while creating an organization so formidable and impenetrable as to dissuade others from even trying to compete against us on our home turf. That’s powerful.
As our practice integration has led to both clinical and financial success benefitting all members, our endeavor to combine our physical therapy practices is another example of how we can work together to maximize the value of our brand. Strengthening our PT practices into one consolidated company will yield golden opportunities to drive revenue growth and expansion through reduced expenses, better leverage with payors and a singular marketing strategy. While taking on less risk, we can utilize our collective resources to amplify our message and reach more patients.
I see our organization as the finest example of how orthopaedic care should be delivered, with our message resonating throughout the regions we serve and beyond as we continue to grow. New business opportunities will require input from all divisions to make this vision a reality. Therefore, a vibrant New Business Committee would be an excellent next step. There is such an incredible opportunity to grow, not by cannibalizing our existing Care Centers, but by building upon our strong foundation to become the unparalleled leader in orthopaedic care.
I would encourage all of us to take the time to dream boldly, think big and strive for unique innovations.