Nueterra Healthcare: Innovative Solutions for Challenging Times
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As one of the country's leading developers and managers of physician hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers, Nueterra Healthcare is uniquely positioned to help physicians and health care systems create strategies for successfully navigating through changing industry dynamics.
For more than a decade, Nueterra has developed and managed successful health care facilities across the country. The facilities include physician-owned specialty hospitals, physician-owned community hospitals, ASC conversions to hospitals, medical real estate and health care campuses. With 75 facilities in 28 states, Nueterra has a proven track record of success regardless of market and regulatory conditions.
The company's comprehensive capabilities and expertise help physicians, hospitals and health systems increase market share, productivity and profitability. Nueterra specializes in:
- End-to-end development services that speed time-to-market and include a feasibility study to ensure the financial, clinical and operational soundness of the project, reducing the obstacles and risks.
- Single-source management solutions that deliver superior returns, excellent clinical outcomes and exceptional patient satisfaction.
- Value-added services such as real estate development and capital management.
- Business life-cycle management to ensure the continued growth of business and provide the visionary thinking needed to ensure success into the future.
A great example of this is in Great Bend, Kansas, where Nueterra worked with local physicians to develop a specialty hospital in 2001 and then convert it in 2009 to a community hospital. This conversion was completed despite ongoing efforts to restrict physician-owned hospitals.
"Physicians approached Nueterra about developing a specialty hospital in Great Bend because they wanted to provide additional health care options for their patients," said David Ayers, President of Nueterra's Surgical Facilities Division. "We helped provide the vision and direction needed to successfully launch and develop the project. Then, as the specialty hospital continued to grow, we managed an expansion that added an imaging center, and began working with physicians to plan for the conversion to a community hospital."
The expanded, full-service Great Bend Regional Hospital includes a medical surgery wing, private labor and delivery rooms, a pediatric unit, ICU, ER and full-service lab.
Moving forward, Nueterra has the infrastructure to sustain a competitive advantage throughout the lifecycle of the hospital. Nueterra is able to drive quality outcomes while controlling expenses in ways that result in increased patient satisfaction, physician satisfaction, cash flow and profitability.
Physician-Owned Hospitals Across the Country
Nueterra also developed and manages surgical hospitals in Kansas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Texas, hospitals that are among the best in their respective states, according to nationally known authorities. New physician-owned hospitals are being developed in partnership with health care systems in Pennsylvania and Texas. In both states, Nueterra is developing multiple facilities for each health system partner, as initial success led to discussions about long-term strategies. In Lousiana, Nueterra is leading the conversion of a very successful ASC to surgical hospital.
As of mid-2009, Nueterra had 10 facilities in development, including five physician-owned hospitals.
Nueterra's proprietary process simplifies the complexity of facility planning, development and management. The company's equity model means that partners control essential aspects of each facility, such as operational structure and core business practices, resulting in greater control and autonomy.
As a facility matures, Nueterra develops solutions to provide long-term rewards for years to come. The company's expertise, scope of service and commitment to delivering results means once the facility is complete, Nueterra focuses on day-to-day management tasks so physicians and health system executives can focus on growing their business and providing the best care for their patients.
Nueterra's disciplined approach to financial management maximizes return on investment through excellent revenue cycle management, cash flow analysis and proper cash reserve policies. Whether it is anticipating a long-term capital expense or a short-term receivables issue, Nueterra provides the oversight needed.
From the clinical to the practical, Nueterra works with partners both on-site and behind the scenes to provide the expertise needed to help them build their business successfully. Some of Nueterra's services include:
- Access to working capital. As a successful corporate partner, Nueterra has established banking relationships that allow the company to bring financing options to a project. In the current state of the economy, many lenders require a corporate partner to access the best lending terms.
- Staffing and personnel. If required, Nueterra will help recruit and retain dedicated staff to minimize turnover and maximize contributions to a facility's success.
- Operations management. Partners have direct access to proven policies and procedures developed for a specific facility to help control all aspects of day-to-day performance.
- Regulation and accreditation. Nueterra will facilitate a facility's adherence to requirements and communicate with all parties to ensure long-term compliance.
- Compliance and risk management. Nueterra's experience helps anticipate problems before they occur, and keeps owners fully advised of potential issues and solutions.
- Clinical outcomes benchmarking. To maintain quality control standards, Nueterra provides critical, ongoing feedback to partners and their medical staff on clinical outcomes.
- Long-term business planning. By identifying and quantifying future events, such as buy/sell transactions, and multi-year objectives involving financial growth markers, service quality outcomes, and patient and staff satisfaction measurements, partners can be assured they are working with an experienced and knowledgeable corporate partner.
Health Care Remains a Healthy Investment
Like any other business, health care has a distinct life cycle. Whether it is an ASC experiencing a maturing or reduction in revenue growth, or a health system facing declining reimbursement and more competition for cases and market share, health care providers today are increasingly met with challenges affecting the success of their facility. Often there is a need in a community for better care or more health care services. These ever-changing complexities can create opportunities.
One of the benefits of working with a corporate partner like Nueterra is that the company has all of the expertise needed to successfully develop and manage physician-owned hospitals and ASCs. There are many current partnership models and options available between physicians, hospitals and management companies. And Nueterra is prepared to deal with any possible changes in ownership laws so that physicians can continue to benefit from the facilities in which they have invested or are providing service.
Nueterra is alone in the industry in offering a range of services that have proven success, regardless of the healthcare environment or economic circumstances. The company is not about one-time deals or short-term success. It is focused on providing innovative solutions that ensure the long-term success of our partners. Nueterra pioneered the idea of physician majority ownership and continue to be the leader in developing business models and solutions to meet the needs of the health care community.
Giving Back
Nueterra believes in the importance of nourishing the entire individual, so beyond just helping its partners become financially prosperous, Nueterra believes in giving back to the community. One5 Foundation is working to become a leader in building successful communities.
One5 works with individuals and communities, starting with the most vulnerable-orphans. Since its inception, One5 has been working in Haiti, Uganda, Malawi and Kenya, providing medical care, building clinics and hospitals, and providing education to help decrease the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. In Haiti, One5 provided 2000 Permethrin-treated mosquito nets to distribute to all ESMI/C3 orphanages in efforts to prevent malaria and dengue.
One5 lifts up people living in poverty and helps them succeed in all aspects of their life so they will, in turn, become leaders and enrich their communities and countries. This strategy takes into account all basic needs essential to any successful community – food, shelter and clothing, environment and infrastructure, education, health care, business enterprise investment, and micro economic development. By providing individuals with the opportunity and means to develop their own skills and abilities, One5 strengthens the institutions and services that empower and sustain the entire community.
One5 partners with multiple organizations sharing our philosophy. To learn more about this foundation, visit www.one5.org.
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