Exploring the Opportunities of Entrepreneurial Healthcare

One of the most intriguing trends in healthcare these days is the evolution of outpatient models of care. The single-specialty ambulatory surgery center (ASC) was a pioneer of its day more than 30 years ago, when Dr. Wally Reed and colleagues launched their Surgicenter in Phoenix with a vision to offer high-quality, lower-cost outpatient surgical services. Multi-specialty ASCs began to pop up as a way to harness the talents of like-minded physicians who wanted greater freedom to practice outside of the hospital environment. Independent, so-called “mom and pop” shops gave way to bigger ASC chains through de novo development mergers, acquisitions and buy-outs by corporations.

As reimbursement challenges continue to radically alter the medical/surgical landscape, ASCs and their operators continue to morph their facilities to meet marketplace demands. ASCs are adding ancillary services, are co-locating with hospitals on progressive healthcare campuses, and are bundling an increasing number of services to tap into the synergies between surgery, imaging and other kinds of outpatient treatment centers, including wellness centers and complementary aesthetic services. The “medical mall” concept, while derided by some critics, is a staple of patient-oriented healthcare that is catching on with consumers.

The rise of the entrepreneurial physician also is an important trend to watch. News headlines announce the growing numbers of physicians who are dropping out of medicine because of intense burnout or the high cost of medical malpractice insurance and the legalities that make them fearful of practicing in a litigious society. But there is a growing cadre of physicians who are switching clinical gears and saving themselves from the morass of mediocrity by embracing entrepreneurial healthcare — going into business for themselves so that they are in a better position to champion healthcare and practice the kind of medicine they envisioned upon graduating from medical school.

As these two trends continue to converge in the midst of a politically-charged healthcare revolution, practitioners are rethinking healthcare in terms of how it can better serve patients, how it can improve physicians’ quality of life and work, and how it can address the numerous shortcomings of the current healthcare delivery system that seems to be failing so many people.

These two trends are some of the driving forces behind the innovative new content of the 5th Annual today’s surgicenter Conference, to be held Sept. 18-20 in Las Vegas. This year we are addressing not only the secrets of start-up and existing ASC success, but examining these evolving models of outpatient care and introducing an educational track for immediate care/urgent care business — one of the most important patient-centric healthcare delivery models to emerge in the last decade. The proliferation of convenient care clinics is a significant sign that patients are demanding affordable, quality, convenient healthcare, and savvy physicians are recognizing that outpatient care can evolve to meet their needs while supplying an outlet for medical and surgical innovation.

Our event is designed to bridge the gap between these two important outpatient healthcare models, with industry experts from both fields exploring today’s trends in the business, legal and financial aspects of entrepreneurial healthcare. This conference is brought to you by today’s surgicenter magazine and its sister publication, Immediate Care Business magazine, both produced by Virgo Publishing’s Medical Group. For more details about this dynamic event, turn to our prospectus on page 21, or visit www.surgicenterconference.com. Watch upcoming issues of today’s surgicenter and our weekly SurgiStrategies e-newsletter for continual conference updates. 

Until next month, 

Kelly M. Pyrek 
Group Editor, Virgo Publishing Medical Group 
kpyrek@vpico.com 

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