Get to Know Brian Mathias, Chief Clinical Officer
In my 30 years of working in healthcare, I have developed a strong affinity for independent medical practices. I believe that doctors do their best work when they are working with and essentially for each other, in an environment where they have the clinical autonomy to care for patients as they see fit.
Of course, that is the very heart of CAO. And although it’s only a few years old, this organization is already an incredible success, setting the standard for patient care and business solutions for private practices.
Physicians have been trying to create big business organizations for a long time, but the challenge of embracing a large-company mindset and making changes to individual practices is usually insurmountable. You have successfully overcome this challenge in creating CAO, and as a result, we are uniquely positioned in a healthcare landscape focused on large organizations, mergers and acquisitions. I’m delighted to join this incredibly talented and forward-thinking team of physicians, administrators, care providers and staff as Chief Clinical Officer.
In today’s environment, CAO’s success is more important than ever. In recent weeks, CVS and Aetna have announced an intent to merge, while UnitedHealth announced plans to buy DaVita. The healthcare industry is transforming, and competition is coming from unusual sources – like Amazon. Many healthcare leaders believe that “bigger” is the only way to survive.
These mergers and acquisitions will only become more common. They will affect our business, and our lives as consumers or patients. It’s up to us – as the largest private-practice orthopaedic group – to respond with a business-centered enterprise that has critical mass, a mission and vision that puts patients at the center of everything we do, and keeps the voice of the physician at the table with the large organizations.
And if this is the world we live in now, it’s important to find a way to work within this system rather than oppose it. There are a lot of opportunities that have been simply lost or missed because there hasn’t been collaboration between physicians and payors. And often, it’s because there hasn’t been a large group like CAO to represent the physicians.
Individual and solo practices simply don’t have the same opportunities to sit down and collaborate with leading insurance companies and health care systems. But thanks to CAO’s strength in numbers, we are uniquely positioned to do this. We have several very exciting dialogues open right now with insurers and other large orthopaedic groups, and I’m glad to use my background working for both payor and provider organizations in these negotiations.
Orthopaedics is one of the most prominent and exciting medical specialties today, as the Baby Boomer population ages and is in need of more orthopaedic care. I’ve been privileged to spend the last 10 years in this specialty, serving as Chief Executive Officer of Peninsula Orthopaedic Associates, P.A., in Salisbury, Maryland. In that time, I helped the practice double its number of professional providers, open three new offices and realize 83% revenue growth. I also launched a surgery center, a research program and physical therapy, podiatry and orthotic services to better serve patients and fill a need in our area.
It was in this role that I met so many of our excellent administrators at the Maryland Orthopaedic Executives Group, and had the opportunity to witness CAO’s strategic growth. Ultimately, I couldn’t turn down the chance to work with CAO’s tremendously smart and talented administrators, doctors and staff, and to play a role in this transformative organization.
It’s been a pleasure to have met many of you personally in my short time at CAO. I’m looking forward to continuing to meet our executives, doctors and staff, and I hope to pay a visit to your offices in the near future. It’s important to me to visit your individual care centers and stay in touch with the actual care environment that we offer every day.
We all have an important role to play in easing patients’ pain and restoring their function and activity. It’s a high privilege, and I’m thrilled to contribute to your growth and success in this new role.