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Seven Springs Orthopaedics and
Sports Medicine in Brentwood, Tenn.
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Stu Jones, PA-C, and Brant Bell, PA-C, in August 2006 opened their own clinic, Seven Springs Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, in Brentwood, Tenn. Just two and a half years later, they've opened their second practice--the Spring Hill, Tenn., location opened Feb. 6--and they're already thinking about more.
"We wanted to go to an area that was growing that didn't have a hospital," Jones says. Spring Hill fit this requirement. "Now there's talk of building a hospital in four or five years, which is great. We can take this time to build up our patient load," he says.
Jones and Bell prepared for about a year before opening the new location, which is in a medical building with two primary care practices, a dentist and a physical therapist.
The PAs' supervising physician, Jeffrey Lawrence, MD, of Premier Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine in Nashville, owns 1% of the Brentwood clinic while Jones and Bell own the other 99%. At the Spring Hill location, each of the three owns a third of the clinic.
"It's a little different than last time, and we felt like it was a good incentive for him," Jones says. "He's been through the process here (in Brentwood) of co-owning a clinic, and he's seen what can be done. He really is a great advocate for our profession."
When Jones and Bell opened their first clinic, many local physicians and other health care providers told them they'd never succeed. Few believed a PA-owned specialty practice clinic could thrive. But in just three years, the clinic has opened a lot of eyes--and minds. "We really did change their mindset, which is pretty exciting," Jones says.
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Stu Jones, PA-C
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For instance, physicians now ask Jones and Bell for help in opening PA-run clinics. "We're getting some of these docs calling us from all around, asking us to show them how we did it and let us be their partner," Jones says. The PAs say they'd like to open another Seven Springs location in 2010 and eventually have four or five clinics.
Jones credits recent medical school graduates with helping the physician community understand the crucial role of PAs in the health care system. "I think we're starting to see younger physicians coming out really knowing what we're capable of doing as PAs and starting to really embrace us as partners in their practice," Jones says, "and not just someone who can modify their lifestyle, but someone who can truly modify their practice."
The two PA-owned practices have flourished despite the economic downturn. In fact, 12 patient visits were booked for the Spring Hill location's opening day in February, and each location now sees more than 20 patients a day. The two clinics' total number of patients recently surpassed 5,100.
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Brant Bell, PA-C
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"I think in the right situation, you can be recession-proof," Jones says, "and I think a big part of that is by controlling your own destiny." Jones and Bell routinely work 14-hour days, which they never anticipated. To keep up with the patient load, they've hired more medical assistants, X-ray techs and other support staff and brought in their own billing department, and they've switched to electronic medical records and digital X-rays.
Even as the practices grow, both PAs still want to see patients at least four days a week. While they so far have resisted hiring an office manager, Jones admits it soon might be necessary because of the time the two PAs put into managing the practices.
"We would feel better at some point hiring someone to do that for us," he says. "What we don't want is to start this great thing of PAs owning their own practices but then not working at them."
Visit the practice's Web site at www.sevenspringsortho.com. For a collection of information on PA-owned clinics from ADVANCE, including previous coverage of Seven Springs Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, click here for our new PA-Owned Clinics Resource Center.
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