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Lately, several of the Relentless Health Value episodes have focused on digital health companies and their disruptive potential on referral flows of traditional provider organizations. We also talked about other goings-on with the potential to encroach on hospital systems and independent docs alike. For example, we\u2019ve got Walmart getting, in a big way, into the health clinic business. We\u2019ve got VillageMD and Walgreens teaming up. We\u2019ve got mergers in the on-site clinic space. There\u2019s just a lot of action.

But let\u2019s talk about what Dan O\u2019Neill called \u201cphysician entrepreneurship\u201d in EP287. Dan said that now is a fantastic time for entrepreneurial physicians to reinvent the practice model. This is true because many, including Dr. Matt Anderson in EP292, have said that it\u2019s not an entirely safe bet if you\u2019re a doc right now to hope that all the practice changes initiated by COVID (like telehealth, etc) go away like a bad hangover the second this pandemic gets stuffed back into Pandora\u2019s box. \xa0

So, there\u2019s risk mitigation strategies at play here, but there\u2019s also a great opportunity for those who figure out how to legitimately improve patient outcomes in a way that consumers and patients love and that employers can easily contract for. Here\u2019s the bottom line: Some, not all, of these new-fangled deliverers of health care have great marketing and maybe a great Net Promoter Score; but effectiveness is less than well validated.

Don\u2019t get me wrong. There\u2019s a whole lot of providers who aren\u2019t sure what kind of results they deliver and who aren\u2019t exactly delivering amazing and sticky customer experiences. So, we certainly can\u2019t forget that, as Bob Matthews has said, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. But what about a physician practice known in a local community that works together to create a Center of Excellence? Now, that\u2019s interesting in this land of the blind. You get all the history and the advantage of being the \u201cdefault care provider.\u201d But you also are well poised for a post-COVID future, even in the face of all this disruptive activity.

In this health care podcast, I speak with Steve Schutzer, MD. Dr. Schutzer is a physician executive for the orthopedic service line at Trinity Health of New England and medical director of Connecticut Joint Replacement. Dr. Schutzer knows a lot about setting up a COE, otherwise known as a Center of Excellence. He knows a lot about how to be a physician entrepreneur, and he knows how to compete in emerging market conditions.

Steven F. Schutzer, MD, graduated with honors from Union College and the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Following a surgical internship at the University of Rochester, he served as lieutenant in the Medical Corps of the United States Navy. After his tour of duty, Dr. Schutzer did his general surgical training at the University of Rochester and then completed his orthopedic residency at the University of Connecticut. He was then a fellow in adult hip and reconstructive surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital, after which he entered practice with Orthopedic Associates of Hartford. He is currently on the staff of Saint Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut.

Dr. Schutzer is a founding member and medical director of the Connecticut Joint Replacement Institute (CJRI), a Center of Excellence at Saint Francis. He is also president of the management company overseeing the Institute, the Connecticut Joint Replacement Surgeons, LLC, as well as physician executive for the orthopedic service line at Trinity Health of New England.

In 2014, Dr. Schutzer and two colleagues, Ms. Steph Kelly and Ms. Maureen Geary, launched a consulting company, Novel Healthcare Solutions, whose mission is to establish effective and trusting business relationships between physicians and hospital partners\u2014and then create orthopedic Centers of Excellence.

03:22 Why would competitive physician groups gang together?
07:32 \u201cEven if you never \u2026 bundle, going through the implementation process \u2026 will yield incredible unrecognized value.\u201d
08:49 \u201cIt demands an end-to-end care redesign process.\u201d
10:10 \u201cThe value of a COE is really unquestionable.\u201d
10:18 \u201cFor every dollar saved [in a COE], two-thirds was in the quality side, and one-third was in the price point.\u201d
13:08 Slide deck discussing the definition of a COE and its seven building blocks.
14:05 \u201cI\u2019m talking about business relationships between the physicians \u2026 these are the most fundamental [relationships].\u201d
15:23 \u201cIt is all about trust.\u201d
15:48 What is the most central issue as to why a COE does well or fails?
16:25 \u201cIt\u2019s not just data. It has to be actionable data because physicians naturally don\u2019t trust data.\u201d
21:54 \u201cEmployers are definitely taking note to patient-reported outcomes.\u201d
22:37 What is the seventh element that is necessary for a COE, and what is fundamental to that element?
23:27 Where will fee-for-service doctors be in 2 to 3 years?
24:45 \u201cThe only way that we can accrue the value that we deserve is through these types of relationships.\u201d
25:11 \u201cThe supreme motivator is opportunity.\u201d
27:01 How do physicians and providers begin a transformation of the marketplace they\u2019re in?
27:36 \u201cWhat they need from us is product. They need products to disrupt the status quo.\u201d
30:26 \u201cThe problem is that there are vendors who are working at the margin.\u201d

@SSchutzer of @THOfNewEngland discusses #centersofexcellence on this week\u2019s #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

Why would competitive physician groups gang together? @SSchutzer of @THOfNewEngland discusses #centersofexcellence on this week\u2019s #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

\u201cIt demands an end-to-end care redesign process.\u201d @SSchutzer of @THOfNewEngland discusses #centersofexcellence on this week\u2019s #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

\u201cThe value of a COE is really unquestionable.\u201d @SSchutzer of @THOfNewEngland discusses #centersofexcellence on this week\u2019s #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

\u201cIt\u2019s not just data. It has to be actionable data because physicians naturally don\u2019t trust data.\u201d @SSchutzer of @THOfNewEngland discusses #centersofexcellence on this week\u2019s #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

\u201cEmployers are definitely taking note to patient-reported outcomes.\u201d @SSchutzer of @THOfNewEngland discusses #centersofexcellence on this week\u2019s #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

Where will fee-for-service doctors be in 2 to 3 years? @SSchutzer of @THOfNewEngland discusses #centersofexcellence on this week\u2019s #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech

How do physicians and providers begin a transformation of the marketplace they\u2019re in? @SSchutzer of @THOfNewEngland discusses #centersofexcellence on this week\u2019s #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #healthtech