CASE STUDY: CARRELL CLINIC, DALLAS

Carrell Clinic is a highly regarded orthopedic center with roots stretching back to the early 1900’s. The Dallas-based practice has long been a leader in providing high-quality advanced care to patients.  The physical therapy department was having difficulty managing patient volume, operating in a cost- effective manner and recruiting therapy staff. In 2012, the clinic turned to Innovative Therapy Concepts to manage its physical therapy practice.

STRUGGLING FOR PROFITABILITY

Like many orthopedic groups, the Carrell Clinic had launched an on-site PT practice to improve continuity of care and provide convenience for patients. By 2009, Carrell Clinic had 8 part-time therapists serving patients, but the therapy ancillary was not being managed effectively and not generating sufficient revenue to cover its costs.

The primary concerns were to capture higher patient volume, improve the referral processes within the clinic and develop quality and productivity standards to allow for a successful physical therapy department.

Ultimately, notes Rick Weymier, Carrell Clinic’s Chief Administrative Officer, the group had to make a decision:  discontinue offering physical therapy services in the clinic or find a management partner to help the clinic discover and achieve its true potential.

THE RIGHT PARTNER  

In 2012, Carrell Clinic took the step to partner with Innovative Therapy Concepts, which implemented a total turnkey solution: hiring and managing staff, handling billing and collections, and driving improvements in a wide range of performance benchmarks. This structured program delivered the most important results:  a high quality of care and high patient satisfaction.

Under the program, ITC and Carrell Clinic entered into a shared-risk agreement that yielded significant advantages for the provider. ITC eliminated management headaches for a fixed cost, drove broad-based operational improvements, and fueled greater financial performance with both parties benefiting from the relationship. (In fact, the program performed so well that, after a few years, the parties signed a longer-term, six-year agreement.)

Among ITC’s key achievements:

Referrals … and standards   ITC has established protocols that have pushed the capture rate from 50% to 80%. At the same time, Weymier notes, ITC implemented standards of care that emphasized care and outcomes for Carrell Clinic’s patients. 

Volume   Under ITC, the clinic has gone from 8 part-time therapists to 19 full- and part-time therapists who now handle five times the number of patients — an expansion that also added a second location with 3,500 additional square feet.

Financial performance   The PT department now manages its costs in a manner that reflects a well-run clinic and has become efficient in its billing and collection processes.

Weymier notes that, as an independent company that has built a core strength in hiring and retention, ITC contributes a “natural recruitment” benefit:  established relationships with a wide range of schools, plus hundreds of students and working therapists.

A BRIGHT FUTURE

Carrell Clinic and ITC renegotiated an extension to their agreement to continue building on the momentum of the PT clinic’s success. Weymier believes other orthopedic groups could benefit from similar management arrangements … or, at the very least, from a clear-eyed performance assessment of therapy clinic performance.

“Even if you think you’re doing therapy well, what’s the downside of having a company like ITC come in and look at your billing, capture rate, and other performance metrics?” Weymier said.  “A lot of orthopedic groups who keep management in-house are doing OK, but they don’t know how much better they could be doing.”