Three healthcare industry leaders answered the question, "Who is a great physician leader and why is he or she a great physician leader?"
Stuart Katz, FACHE, CASC, Executive Director, Tucson (Ariz.) Orthopaedic Surgery Center: Marc Leib, MD, medical director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System [Arizona's Medicaid program]. Dr. Leib is an anesthesiologist by training and experience and as a practitioner he understands that providers of services go through to provide healthcare and the maze to get paid. He is sympathetic to the providers when it comes to getting paid adequately and recognizes that there are opportunities to reduce the cost of health care. An example is an outpatient procedure for young children call Arrest, hemiepiphyseal, distal femur or proximal tibia (CPT Code 27485). These procedures does not appear on the Medicare fee schedule (this procedure is done on adolescents only) and therefore according to CMS must be done in a general acute-care hospital. The cost of the hospital stay is approximately $15,000. During our conversation I was able to demonstrate that our cost of doing this procedure as an outpatient for children covered by commercial insurance was about $2,500 including the implants. Given that information, Dr. Leib instructed the AHCCCS staff to allow payment for CPT 27485 and saved the program a boat load of money. We do about 15 cases annually for AHCCCS beneficiaries so we are paid $37,500 in aggregate versus the hospital charges of $225,000 — saving the program $187,500 annually. This has been in place since Jan. 2008 so the savings to the State of Arizona is about $656K thus far. Forward thinking by Dr. Leib has paid off.
Mike Lipomi, president and CEO, Surgical Management Professionals: I think the most dynamic physician leader I know is Dr. Blake Curd. Dr. Curd has a full-time practice in hand surgery and is a very busy surgeon. In addition to his practice he has found time to serve on the Board of Directors of Surgical Management Professionals and actually filled in for over two years as acting CEO. At the same time Dr. Curd serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Physician Hospitals of America and Medical Facilities Corporation. While doing all this he served in the South Dakota legislature and ran for United States Congress. Attending political events, lobbying trips to Washington D.C., lectures at conferences as well career and educational advancement courses round out his already busy schedule. In addition to all of his professional activities, Dr. Curd is a great husband and father spending time with his family and children, encouraging their studies and extracurricular activities fill out his day. I think that this is a balance for all the other activities and will enhance and prolong his exceptional career.
Gary E. Weiss, Chief Financial Officer, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, Ill.: Dr. Joseph Golbus [president, NorthShore University HealthSystem]. A quality physician that also understands business matters and organizational behavior. As a result, he has the respect of physicians as well as non-physician administrators with whom he works. Also, Dr. Mark Talamonti who is the chairman of the Department of Surgery at NorthShore. Mark has set a vision for his department and is willing to make tough decisions toward achieving that vision in both clinical and administrative domains.
Want to share your thoughts on an exceptional physician leader? Email Lindsey Dunn at lindsey@beckershealthcare.com. Note: Comments may be published online.
Stuart Katz, FACHE, CASC, Executive Director, Tucson (Ariz.) Orthopaedic Surgery Center: Marc Leib, MD, medical director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System [Arizona's Medicaid program]. Dr. Leib is an anesthesiologist by training and experience and as a practitioner he understands that providers of services go through to provide healthcare and the maze to get paid. He is sympathetic to the providers when it comes to getting paid adequately and recognizes that there are opportunities to reduce the cost of health care. An example is an outpatient procedure for young children call Arrest, hemiepiphyseal, distal femur or proximal tibia (CPT Code 27485). These procedures does not appear on the Medicare fee schedule (this procedure is done on adolescents only) and therefore according to CMS must be done in a general acute-care hospital. The cost of the hospital stay is approximately $15,000. During our conversation I was able to demonstrate that our cost of doing this procedure as an outpatient for children covered by commercial insurance was about $2,500 including the implants. Given that information, Dr. Leib instructed the AHCCCS staff to allow payment for CPT 27485 and saved the program a boat load of money. We do about 15 cases annually for AHCCCS beneficiaries so we are paid $37,500 in aggregate versus the hospital charges of $225,000 — saving the program $187,500 annually. This has been in place since Jan. 2008 so the savings to the State of Arizona is about $656K thus far. Forward thinking by Dr. Leib has paid off.
Mike Lipomi, president and CEO, Surgical Management Professionals: I think the most dynamic physician leader I know is Dr. Blake Curd. Dr. Curd has a full-time practice in hand surgery and is a very busy surgeon. In addition to his practice he has found time to serve on the Board of Directors of Surgical Management Professionals and actually filled in for over two years as acting CEO. At the same time Dr. Curd serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Physician Hospitals of America and Medical Facilities Corporation. While doing all this he served in the South Dakota legislature and ran for United States Congress. Attending political events, lobbying trips to Washington D.C., lectures at conferences as well career and educational advancement courses round out his already busy schedule. In addition to all of his professional activities, Dr. Curd is a great husband and father spending time with his family and children, encouraging their studies and extracurricular activities fill out his day. I think that this is a balance for all the other activities and will enhance and prolong his exceptional career.
Gary E. Weiss, Chief Financial Officer, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, Ill.: Dr. Joseph Golbus [president, NorthShore University HealthSystem]. A quality physician that also understands business matters and organizational behavior. As a result, he has the respect of physicians as well as non-physician administrators with whom he works. Also, Dr. Mark Talamonti who is the chairman of the Department of Surgery at NorthShore. Mark has set a vision for his department and is willing to make tough decisions toward achieving that vision in both clinical and administrative domains.
Want to share your thoughts on an exceptional physician leader? Email Lindsey Dunn at lindsey@beckershealthcare.com. Note: Comments may be published online.