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| Care Station Medical Group: Slow and Steady |
| Corporate Spotlight | |||
| Written by Amanda Gaines | |||
| Thursday, 01 May 2008 | |||
 A gradual evolution has enabled this primary care medical group to flex with industry trends.
“At that time, we began to notice a trend away from urgent care facilities,” said Bezozo, CEO and founder. “Simultaneously, having opened as an urgent care facility, we identified the incredible need for qualified occupational healthcare providers.”  Dr. Richard Bezozo, founder and CEO An internist by training with a background in general surgery, primary care appealed to Bezozo more than internal medicine. “There are procedures in primary care, but internal medicine is practically procedure-less,” he said. “The model we’ve developed over the years is to become more like an old-fashioned general practitioner’s office where patients can come and, for the most part, receive full service.” As part of an ongoing evolution to increase its service offerings, Care Station has gradually added house calls and cosmetic services to its portfolio of capabilities. As a result, the primary medical care facility has seen continuous 6% to 10% growth annually in its patient population—a significant feat for a four-office practice located in New Jersey’s highly competitive healthcare environment. Being flexible Although Bezozo has been at the helm of Care Station since its inception, he admits he didn’t always have a solid vision for where he wanted to take the company. “Sometimes the vision was unclear, and other times it was as though I could see for miles,” he said. “In my experience, having a vision isn’t necessarily about being tied to one direction; it’s also about being flexible.” The benefit to having such an outlook at Care Station is that, although there is a board of directors, Bezozo doesn’t need consensus on every decision he makes. As a result, Bezozo has been able to be more flexible with changes in the industry. It has also enabled him to develop a loyal team of administrators, executive assistants, and physicians that are vested in the company and believe in delivering patient-centric and compassionate healthcare. “As captain, you know where you want to go, but you’d be hard pressed to sail a large vessel by yourself,” he said. “The best thing an executive can do is to select the most qualified people to work with. Today, we’ve got an incredible group of people who have been with me for 15 years and have truly helped sail this vessel.” Long-term relationships Bezozo has applied the same philosophy to developing strategic partnerships outside Care Station. Four years ago, when looking to move the office’s imaging capabilities to a digital platform, he sought help from John Fox of New Jersey-based American Imaging, a company Bezozo has had a relationship with for almost two decades. And although the initial investment in the equipment was high, the point was not how much money the practice was spending but how important the technology was to providing an excellent patient experience. “Reimbursement for X-rays is terrible when you consider the cost of the equipment and technicians, but if we stopped doing X-rays, we’d be far less capable of providing quality care,” he said. “We’ve also introduced ultrasound into our practice, which provides diagnostic information to our patients faster, and we’ve developed inhouse clinical laboratories with the same philosophy in mind.” Care Station also outsources its IT functions and has developed a long-term relationship with IT consulting company Entegration. Regardless of Care Station’s size, Bezozo said Entegration owner Art Gross treats the practice with respect and provides knowledge that enables Care Station to remain competitive. Entegration and Care Station even hold quarterly meetings to discuss the state of the practice’s IT security and provide a projection of what to expect in the upcoming year. “You need people like Art Gross and John Fox,” said Bezozo. “John Fox has been with me now for 19 years. There aren’t many relationships like that anymore; today it’s what-have-you-done-for-me-lately. To be honest, there is a lot of that here as well—we give a lot, but we expect a lot too.” Shared vision Bezozo’s philosophy on healthcare and building relationships has paid off. Care Station consistently ranks in the upper 10th percentile, and even sometimes in the top fifth percentile, when ranked by its payors on days that care is provided versus hospitalization. He believes this achievement is due to the proactive outlook of the company as a whole. “We’re in a people business: the business of providing care,” said Bezozo. “When we’re not providing the level of care I expect, we retrain and re-educate our staff, and it’s differentiated us from other practices that are not as successful.” Care Station is also dedicated to giving its employees a career path, which motivates employees to show their level of dedication to the company. The practice’s vice president of operations, for example, started as the front-desk receptionist, and Bezozo’s executive assistant has been with him for close to 15 years. Loyalty is key, said Bezozo, but it’s no match for a shared vision of providing high quality patient care. “It’s the little things that are important when making sure patients receive quality care,” he said. “You can never do enough. When push comes to shove, it’s all about the patient, and that’s what our people understand.” |
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