🔒Competition grows in bone and joint care

Q&A talks with Elliot Joseph, CEO of Hartford HealthCare.

Q: Hartford Hospital's $110-million Bone & Joint Institute opened in December. Who will you be competing with and how will the new facility advance orthopedic care in Connecticut?

A: It's not who we're competing with, it's who we're competing for. We're competing for patients who want and need the full depth of orthopedic and joint-health specialties, from sports medicine to injury prevention to activity-specific rehabilitation and, of course, many forms of surgery. This facility is the newest, most innovative and most comprehensive stand-alone center in the entire U.S. It's got a world-class medical team, a unique, multidisciplinary musculoskeletal approach and a world-class facility. It takes its place among the country's best freestanding specialty hospitals.

Q: What does the new facility mean for the cost of these types of healthcare services in our area?

A: At Hartford HealthCare, we have been adopting Lean organizational principles and techniques throughout our organization.

We have trained — and continue to train — our managers in the use of Lean as part of our performance quality and innovation platform, which we call 'How Hartford HealthCare Works.' It's really the culture of our entire organization and it means working every day to make health care better and more efficient for everyone, our patients and families.

The Bone & Joint Institute at Hartford Hospital is the first facility that we have designed with Lean principles in mind. It is probably one of the few healthcare facilities in the nation created in this way.

While this doesn't immediately translate into affordability, as healthcare costs are affected by many factors, we believe that it will. We know that our focus on prevention, with the state-of-the-art motion lab and other services, will help avoid both serious injuries and also the higher costs of treating those injuries.

And we expect the new facility, over time, to pioneer new efficiencies in orthopedic care that will ultimately result in greater affordability for patients.

Q: What partnerships has the Institute formed with companies or other providers and what do they entail?

A: The partnerships involved in creating and sustaining this one-of-a-kind facility are too numerous and complex to describe briefly. But I can say what it all adds up to: economic development. This is a perfect example of how investment can grow the state's economy.

Designing, constructing and outfitting the building involved more than 80 companies, including many small and mid-sized firms that supply everything from furniture and telephones to medical technology.

Our main partner in the Bone & Joint Institute is Orthopedic Associates of Hartford, with nearly a half-century of experience in the full range of orthopedic care.

Beyond that, we are tapping into the expertise of our own member organizations, such as the Hartford Hospital Rehabilitation Network and other specialists.

We also will partner for research with our Center for Education, Simulation and Innovation (CESI), which we are expanding. CESI has a range of partnerships with biomedical and biotech firms for testing, training and evaluation.

These partners include such companies as Intuitive Surgical and Stanley Black & Decker. Making wise investments and working with the right partners produce advances in patient care. This approach also helps the state's healthcare industry grow as an economic engine and laboratory of innovation.

Q: How will Hartford HealthCare measure success in 2017, the Institute's first full year in business?

A: We will measure success at our Bone & Joint Institute at Hartford Hospital the way we measure success across Hartford HealthCare: one patient at a time.

Of course we have targets for numbers of patients served and we also want to ensure that everything we do in the new facility touches the work of providers and the lives of patients across our system and across Connecticut.

But it comes down to each encounter with every patient — whom we see, truly, as customers. We want to do everything we can to keep them mobile and healthy and happy with the care they receive.