Guest Column: Richard Robinson, Chief Operating Officer
In my first few months as the Chief Operating Officer at CAO, I have had the incredible opportunity of witnessing firsthand the vision, innovative thinking and entrepreneurial spirit that defines The Centers. I’m grateful to all the care centers that have met with me, and those conversations have been invaluable in helping to quickly immerse myself in the company’s mission and business objectives. I believe fully in our mission to be “the national leader in delivering the highest quality and most compassionate orthopaedic care,” and am thrilled for the opportunity to use my skills and background to advance this organization.
As COO, I am primarily focused on initiatives that expand our business opportunities, revenue and footprint, while increasing our backend efficiencies. My 20 years of operations management experience includes serving as the region operations director for DaVita Inc., a Fortune 500 healthcare company with 80 outpatient dialysis centers, and as a senior manager for Frito-Lay overseeing regional sales operations. I’ve already had the opportunity to leverage the skills I gained to maximize efficiencies and assist in contract negotiations with payers, and I look forward to using my background to help grow The Centers’ reputation and capabilities.
My work on every initiative starts with evaluating the opportunity through four strategic lenses:
- Does this align with our mission, vision and values?
- Does this benefit our patients, improving our outcomes and patient satisfaction?
- Will this grow our revenue?
- Will this create efficiency? If so, how much disruption will it cause our care centers?
I am committed to working on initiatives that will benefit CAO’s patients, reputation and profit, while helping to streamline processes with the least possible disruption to our care centers. Our skilled providers lead the industry in top-quality care, but I also recognize that the success of all our care centers is built by the strategic work and careful management of our practice administrators and the dedication of all of our staff.
Every single one of our administrators is working hard to make their care center the best it can be, so we want to be very, very careful about adding anything to their plates. Our projects will be a win if they create efficiency and can ease the burden of our administrators’ responsibilities. I’m analyzing each opportunity and initiative in light of how it will impact the whole care center team: Administrators, office staff, physical therapists, physicians and other care providers.
Below are a few initiatives that I will be focusing on in the coming months:
- Physical Therapy Consolidation. In concert with the dedicated members of our PT Task Force, I’m evaluating our solutions for successful consolidation, which will include a unified, efficient billing process, telehealth options for physical therapy and negotiating insurance reimbursements for telehealth services.
- Bundled Payments. I’m working closely with Remedy Partners, the Leadership Team and our payer partners in rolling out CAO’s seven unique bundles. Our first bundle with Aetna will tentatively roll out on November 1, and we plan to work with CMS when they re-open a bundle in our market in the coming months.
- Orthopaedic Urgent Care Centers. CAO urgent care centers would enable us to expand our patient services and revenue streams by bringing in new patients who are suffering from acute injuries and are looking for the most immediate care available. We are currently exploring the viability of opening or partnering with such centers to better serve our patients and communities.
- Partnerships. There may be opportunities to build our brand with medical and research partnerships outside of orthopaedics. I’m currently evaluating our options for potential partnerships with pharmaceutical companies and research institutions, which would give us the opportunity to further leverage our significant expertise and outcomes data while growing our leadership and visibility.
- Payer Contracts. I’m passionate about our payer contracts and reimbursement rates, because that has such a direct impact on the health and profit of our business and each employee. I’m working closely with our Leadership Team to negotiate contracts that are up for renewal, looking for new ways to secure higher reimbursement rates while meeting the shared goals of our payer partners.
Thanks to the dedication of our corporate team, Board of Managers, and every physician and staff member, CAO has already recognized an impressive growth rate of 35 percent since we launched. We are the largest private provider of orthopaedic care in the country, and I’m honored to be a part of this great organization and excited to work diligently towards its continued growth, success and visibility.