Orthopedics is all they do at New England Baptist Hospital, and they do it very well, drawing patients from across the Northeast to a new outpatient surgical care center outside Boston. "We are a focused factory," explains one senior executive.
John Richmond, MD |
The struggle for survival is presumably ingrained in the genetic code of all organisms on Earth.
Whenever I look for journalistic partners, I seek organizations that have excellence present in their collective DNA.
New England Baptist Hospital in Boston has the excellence gene. When alerted earlier this year that I would be moderating an orthopedic medicine webcast, I immediately targeted NEBH, which has a world-class main campus in Boston's Mission Hill neighborhood. Next week's webcast will focus on NEBH's new outpatient surgical center in Dedham, MA, one of Boston's southwestern suburbs.
The first time I crossed paths with one of the webcast's two speakers was more than a year ago. John Richmond, MD, is NEBH's medical director for network development, and the description he provided of his employer during our first encounter resonated with my inner economist. "We are a focused factory," he told me.
Orthopedics is all they do at NEBH, and they do it very well. The organization has amassed awards and honors, including recognition from Healthgrades for Patient Safety Excellence and Outstanding Patient Experience and high hospital rankings from U.S. News and World Report.
NEBH draws patients from across New England, other Northeast states, and beyond. Serving that far-flung patient population was one drivers behind NEBH's decision to open the Dedham outpatient surgical center, which is located near Route 128, the main bypass highway that rings Boston.
Convenient access to NEBH orthopedic services is a plus for patients who live outside the city and allowed NEBH to strengthen its organization, broaden its market reach, and establish a new revenue stream. Payers benefit from orthopedic services being delivered in a lower-cost setting.
The Dedham facility has been developed and operated through two joint-venture companies: one focused on management and the other on real estate. Ownership of the facility is spread between three entities: NEBH and Quincy, MA-based Shield HealthCare have 25% stakes, and physicians associated with NEBH have a 50% stake.
The outpatient surgical center is not a new concept. Way back in January 2007, HealthLeaders magazine forecast the growth of ambulatory surgical centers. One of the many prescient points made in that article is directly applicable to next week's webcast: "In the future, general outpatient care may lose business to centers offering more directed services."
That future is playing out at the New England Baptist Outpatient Care Center in Dedham.
The second member of next week's webcast presenter duo is Rachel Rosenblum, NEBH's VP of ambulatory operations and program development. She describes NEBH's facility in Dedham, which opened last fall, as a "musculoskeletal care center" and "a destination for care across the orthopedic spectrum."
"One-stop shopping" has become a catch phrase in the marketing of outpatient care facilities, and it is an apt description of the patient experience at the New England Baptist Outpatient Care Center.
The 66,000-square-foot structure houses a wide array of professionals and equipment under one roof, including offices for surgical practices and an MRI-equipped imaging center. The range of services includes several state-of-the-art operating rooms paired with dual-use pre-operative and post-anesthesia care unit bays, an interdisciplinary pain center, rehabilitation services, a spine center, and occupational health programs such as firefighter and police exams.
When it comes to outpatient surgical centers, NEBH has provided an excellent model for others to follow: high-quality care, convenience for patients, and a business model that spreads the risks associated with building and operating a world-class facility.
Webcast: Join leaders from New England Baptist Hospital as they share best practices and host an interactive Q&A around contemporary strategies for orthopedic success in the ambulatory environment in a webcast on Nov. 12, from 1:00–2:30 PM ET.
Christopher Cheney is the CMO editor at HealthLeaders.