Dr. Omkar Baxi, Orthopedic Hand Surgeon at Mid Atlantic Permanente Medical Group

Summary

Becker’s Healthcare Podcast: Dr. Omkar Baxi, Orthopedic Hand Surgeon at Mid Atlantic Permanente Medical Group
Date: August 16, 2025
Host: Becker's Healthcare
Guest: Dr. Omkar Baxi

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Dr. Omkar Baxi, an orthopedic hand surgeon with the Mid Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, shares his insights on current trends and shifts within orthopedics, outpatient care, technological innovations—including ambient AI scribes—and the evolving role of financial transparency in healthcare. Drawing on his team’s experiences serving about 800,000 patients in the DMV area, Dr. Baxi explains how technological and systemic advances are shaping not only clinical workflows but also the broader patient and provider experience.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Introduction to Dr. Omkar Baxi and His Practice

• [00:52] Dr. Baxi introduces himself as an orthopedic hand surgeon handling surgical practice from hand to elbow and shoulder, working within a group of 13 physicians in Virginia.
  • He supports around 2,000 doctors with Kaiser Permanente across the Mid Atlantic, serving about 800,000 patients in the DMV area.

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Industry Trends and Persistent Challenges

• Decreasing Reimbursements:
  • [01:32] “The perennial issue has always been decreasing, decreasing reimbursement. So that is the headwind that we always face.” – Dr. Baxi
  • Aging populations, increased supply/staffing costs, and the need to maintain patient-first, high-quality care create added pressures.
  • Emphasis on the need for new technologies and innovations to balance costs and care quality.

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The Evolving Role of Outpatient, Orthopedics, Spine, and ASCs

• Shifting Venues for Care:
  • [02:13] Dr. Baxi discusses the move from hospital-based care toward in-office procedural suites, and even transitioning some cases from ASCs to office-based surgeries:
    • “A big part of that is finding the right patient to do the right surgery or the right intervention in the right venue.”
  • Freeing up ASCs for larger procedures that are being shifted out of hospitals (e.g., total knees, total joints) by moving minor cases into office settings.

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Technology Innovations: Ambient AI Scribes and Prescreening

• Impact of AI on Workflow:
  • [03:07] Dr. Baxi highlights the adoption of ambient AI scribes:
    • “We are now using ambient AI scribes in my organization. I think that's been super helpful… my non-orthopedic colleagues actually feel like it's a complete game changer.”
  • Benefits: Providers focus more on patients, fewer distractions taking notes, improved continuity and documentation.
• Future of AI in Prescreening:
  • Dr. Baxi foresees a further role for AI in patient prescreening:
    • “Part of that is actually before they even come to see me… helping us to narrow that down will help us figure out how to best deliver care.”

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Financial Transparency as a Competitive Advantage

• Beyond the Clinic Visit:
  • [04:50] Dr. Baxi broadens the conversation from clinical costs to the entire patient experience, including insurance selections and lost work time:
    • “The cost of healthcare eventually comes down to the patients. So that has to be a part of our conversation. And it's not just when they come to see us, but it's also when they're selecting their health plans in their open enrollment period.”
  • Value of integrated care models that reduce surprises and promote clarity.
• Considering Patients’ Realities:
  • Dr. Baxi explains why context is vital—two patients with the same injury could face different “costs” depending on their jobs and life situations:
    • “If you have a very manual job and you can't go to work for three months, it's very different than if you have a computer job… I think we definitely have to expand our view of really what cost means and I think that'll help a lot.” [05:54]

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Final Reflections: Collaborative Innovation

• Interdisciplinary Approach:
  • [06:52] Dr. Baxi emphasizes the importance of collaboration between all healthcare stakeholders:
    • “The only way to move forward and to innovate is to have all these people at the table. And we need to do that more often, I think.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On decreasing reimbursement and industry headwinds:
  • “The perennial issue has always been decreasing, decreasing reimbursement…” – Dr. Omkar Baxi [01:32]
• On AI scribes as a ‘game changer’:
  • “We are now using ambient AI scribes in my organization… they really can focus on their patients.” – Dr. Omkar Baxi [03:08]
• On expanding the meaning of healthcare costs:
  • “If you have a very manual job and you can't go to work for three months, it's very different than if you have a computer job and you could easily be working and still earning a paycheck for those three months…” – Dr. Omkar Baxi [05:54]
• On collaborative innovation:
  • “The only way to move forward and to innovate is to have all these people at the table.” – Dr. Omkar Baxi [06:56]

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Key Timestamps

• 00:52: Dr. Baxi’s introduction & overview of group practice
• 01:32: Discussion on decreasing reimbursements & operational challenges
• 02:13: The trajectory toward more in-office and outpatient procedures
• 03:07: Adoption and impact of ambient AI scribes
• 04:50: Defining and operationalizing financial transparency
• 06:52: Closing thoughts on collaborative industry innovation

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Conclusion

Dr. Baxi’s interview offers practical, on-the-ground insight into how orthopedic and outpatient care is evolving amid reimbursement challenges, the rise of technology, and the push for greater transparency. At every turn, he advocates for putting patients at the center of decision-making and underscores the need for a truly collaborative approach among all healthcare stakeholders.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

And welcome to the Beckers Healthcare Podcast, recorded live at the 22nd annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management Driven ASC and Future of Spine Conference. I'm joined today by Omkar Bakshi, orthopedic hand surgeon at Mid Atlantic Permanente Medical Group. To start us off. Would you please share a little bit about yourself, your role and your organization?

[C]

Sure, yeah. So I'm an orthopedic hand surgeon by training, so that means that the vast majority of my surgical practice is hand to elbow and a little bit of shoulder work. But I am part of a 13 physician and 4 to 5 PA group in Virginia. And so we take care of general orthopedics in the clinic. And then I support a total of about 2,000 doctors throughout the Mid Atlantic states for Kaiser Permanente and we have the privilege of taking care of about 800,000 patients in the DMV.

[B]

What trends or shifts are you seeing right now in the industry that you think are the most important for industry leaders to pay attention to?

[C]

So I think the perennial issue has always been decreasing, decreasing reimbursement. So that is the headwind that we always face. And then the background of that is that we always have to put our patients first and make sure that the quality of our patient care is paramount. And so as we have lower reimbursements and as the cost of supplies and the cost of staffing and everything else goes up, I think we have to look at new technologies and new innovations to make that balance work out.

[B]

As outpatient care continues to grow, how do you see the role of orthopedic, spine and ASCs evolving within the broader healthcare ecosystem?

[C]

Yeah, so absolutely it's going to be an even more prevalent issue as the population changes and as we have fewer healthcare workforce. So I think a big part of that is finding the right patient to do the right surgery or the right intervention in the right venue. So we definitely focus a lot on transitioning from more traditional kind of hospital based care to in office care. So we, we use and even moving from ASC to in office surgeries. So I know this is an ASC conference, but I think a part, a big part of that is seeing how much of that we can actually move into the office procedure suites and then free up the ASCs for even the, the things that are moving out of the hospital like total knees and total joints.

[B]

Well, many organizations are exploring new technologies, partnerships or care models to improve efficiency and outcomes. Are there any innovations or initiatives you found particularly promising?

[C]

The most recent thing that comes to mind is we are now using ambient AI scribes in my organization. I think that's been super helpful. I know that my non orthopedic colleagues actually feel like it's a, it's a complete game changer that they really can focus on their patients. In my world, you know, we have a little bit more templated notes or more kind of single issues, but even then there's always a little bit of a difference between one patient or the next. And so having, having the ability to not worry about typing out that exact thing that I know that my phone will, will pick that up, that I know that, you know, when I come back to them in two months, it'll be written down for me. It really helps me build that connection again in, in the office. So I think that's been huge and then, but as we move forward, I think an AI pre screen could also help. So that, you know, we talked about kind of the right pat, right time, the right treatment. Part of that is, is actually before they even come to see me. So I think, you know, having the, the patients to know which ones do need to see a surgeon and which ones maybe if it may get better with time, orthopedics, a lot of it does. Time heals and so helping us to kind of narrow that down will help us figure out how to best care, best deliver care. So.

[B]

Mm. Well, financial transparency is becoming a more prominent part of the patient experience with growing expectations from consumers and healthcare stakeholders alike. From your perspective, what does true financial transparency look like in practice? For leaders thinking about the business side of care, especially in an increasingly consumer driven healthcare environment, how can financial transparency become not just a patient win, but a competitive advantage?

[C]

Yeah, absolutely. So I know we focus so much on providers and healthcare systems, but let's be honest, the cost of healthcare eventually comes down to the patients. So that has to be a part of our conversation. And it's not just when they come to see us, but it's also when they're selecting their health plans in their open enrollment period. So I'm privileged to be, I'm at Permanente Medicine, so we are able to take that part out of our clinic discussions because the patients have essentially signed onto a health plan that there's always a little bit of difference. But for, for the most part, their premiums cover their entire care. So there's not as much of a surprise or an out of pocket. But so I think that, that the shift has to be. Where do we talk about financial costs? Is it just when you're, when you're in the office or when you're just paying for your surgery? Is it when you're signing up for your health plan? Is it when you think about when I have an injury and I'm losing days off of work, I think that needs to be part of that financial cost consideration as well. So, you know, in my world, risk fractures are becoming more controversial as to which ones do we need to fix, which ones do we not? And that's a great technical decision that needs to take place. And it's easy to say that surgeries for risk fractures are more costly. And so in a value based care, if you had a very myopic view, you would say surgery is probably not the right cost consideration. But then I think that takes patients out of the picture. I think if you have a very manual job and you can't go to work for three months, it's very different than if you have a computer job and you could easily be working and still earning a paycheck for those three months where you're casted. So I think we definitely have to expand our view of really what cost means and I think that'll help a lot.

[B]

I really like that. Omkar, thank you so much for joining us today on the show. But before I let you go, is there anything else you'd like to touch on or any final thoughts you'd like to leave with us?

[C]

I think it was just, it was, it's great to be here and to learn from everyone at the conference. It was really amazing to see how we have CEOs of health plans. We have, of course, we have doctors and ASC leaders. And I was at a panel recently where, where we talked about how the only way to move forward and to innovate is to have all these people at the table. And we need to do that more often, I think. So. Thank you for organizing this.

[B]

It's our pleasure. Thank you again for joining us today.

[C]

Thanks.

[B]

Have a lovely rest of your day.