← Becker’s Healthcare Podcast
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- [00:00]
A
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- [00:36]
B
Is Grace Lynn Keller with the Beckers Healthcare Podcast and we are recording live at the 22nd annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management Conference. I'm currently joined by Dr. Ira Kornbluth, who is the President at Clearway Pain Solutions. So thanks so much for being here. Let's start off by having you share a little bit more about yourself, your role and your organization.
- [00:55]
C
Thank you for the invitation to be here. It's certainly an honor. So my career started upon completion of my fellowship in 2004. I had gone to medical school and did my residency at Jefferson Philadelphia and then started my practice in a multi center practice in Maryland. I had developed quite a robust following, became a partner, was doing quite well, but then decided to leave and start my own practice after four years being there, I was able to build a practice with several centers, hired really great quality physicians, most who are still with the practice, open surgery centers, and then transacted with private equity in 2017. My practice was called Smart Pain Management. We merged with Cure Pain Management to form CURE Smart Pain Management. Less than two years later we had a recap event with our current sponsor, Next Phase Capital out of New York and transitioned to become Clearway Pain Solutions Solutions. Since that time we've continued to scale. We're now in 10 states still based out of Maryland. We're the biggest pain practice in the country now. And beyond being big, I think we're particularly proud of the fact that we have a very tightly operating model, very financially secure, very financially stable, and a practice that's very compliant, poised to scale. We have great reputation in the marketplace where a place stocks want to work. We are about halfway through the year now. We have 70 physicians, not one resignation so far this year. That's something we're really proud of. In terms of my role in the organization as a founder and president, I have my hands in most everything. I'm particularly focused right now on working with physicians, mentoring them. I'm in charge of provider recruitment and hiring. I'm in charge of de novo development. We're opening about 25 centers this year, so there's a lot of work to be done there. I also oversee compliance, the special procedure program and most of the ancillary programs at Clearway.
- [03:06]
B
Wonderful. Well, thank you for taking the time to be here and sharing your expertise. And let's start with what trends and shifts you're currently seeing right now in the industry that you think are most important for leaders to pay attention to.
- [03:19]
C
Great question. Obviously, there's a lot of buzz around tech advancements. Specifically AI and practices are learning about AI capabilities and how enhance efficiencies in practice. There's definitely a site of service shift that we're seeing with procedures moving out of hospitals into surgery centers. Surgery centers can provide as good, if not better, quality of care in a less expensive environment. There's an enhanced patient experience and an emphasis on empowering customers, consumers of healthcare. And with regard to pain management specifically, we've seen a migration towards more advanced procedure offerings with a de emphasis on opioids in pain management care.
- [04:09]
B
And let's also touch on staffing and workforce as these challenges continue to be a concern across healthcare. So how is your organization navigating these pressures and what strategies have you seen working?
- [04:21]
C
Well, it's all relative. Right. So staffing challenges were more acute during the early stages of COVID so management teams are hardened and better equipped to navigate the challenges of healthcare staffing. Some of the specific challenges around nurse availability and anesthesia coverage persist, but are less acute than they were early on during COVID With regards to our organization, we closely monitor turnover by position and by region to determine if there are any worrisome patterns. We assess our periods periodically versus market to ensure fairness. Ultimately, employees want to be heard and understood, so we do frequent surveys to uncover any particular issues that otherwise might not surface. And the best approach to us is to have relatively frequent feedback with direct reports and touch points so we can hear their concerns, provide feedback and ensure alignment throughout the organization. We also have a system in place that rewards great customer service and great work effort by our employees and coworkers can reward employees, not just managers. So it creates this collaborative environment throughout the entire organization.
- [05:45]
B
And as outpatient care continues to grow, how do you see the role of orthopedics and ASCs evolving within the broader healthcare ecosystem?
- [05:53]
C
Yeah, so this goes back to my earlier comment about a site of service shift. Many spine, orthopedic and pain cases are being done in the ASC that had previously been done in the hospital. And I envision a greater collaboration amongst ortho, pain and neurosurgery. And that is really going to emerge as the standard. These centers of excellence with orthopedic, spine and pain management. And we have an aging population with baby boomers aging and people living longer. There's going to be greater need even for high quality orthopedic and pain management services and a demand for collaboration amongst the specialties to provide the best care for the patient.
- [06:41]
B
And as we kind of wrap up the conversation, many organizations are exploring new technologies, partnerships or care models to improve efficiency and outcomes. So I'd love to know if there's any innovations or initiatives you found particularly promising.
- [06:56]
C
Ambient dictation, that's really the future. There's a lot of discussion even at this conference about ambient dictation. I've been to many lectures where that's been a primary focus and really has been in recent months and even years. And doctors are seeming to embrace this new approach. It is lessening their administrative burden, it's enhancing their efficiency, it's enhancing their productivity. Many doctors are able to see a few more patients per day, and that few additional patients per day really increases their morale. And not having to stay after work for hours to finish charts is very appealing to physicians. There's also the potential for major back office efficiencies through technological advancements. That's starting to play out and should be accelerating in the coming months and years.
- [07:54]
B
And is there anything else you'd like to share that we didn't touch on today?
- [07:58]
C
Just that we see pain management as a valuable resource within the healthcare system. We have positioned ourselves as part of the solution to the opioid problem and not a contributor to the problem. Our focus as primarily interventional pain management versus chronic pain management. Having the tools to make sure that if controlled substances are provided that they're being closely monitored, managed and curtailed is, you know, very important within a healthcare ecosystem?
- [08:35]
B
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to join me today on the Beckers Healthcare podcast. Again, we are live at the 22nd annual Spine Orthopedic and Pain Management Conference.
- [08:45]
C
Thank you for the ability to come on here and speak to you today.