Case study shows Southeast Houston Cardiology's merger into region's leading physician-owned medical group increases case volume, slashes overhead expenses while boosting physician and patient satisfaction.
HOUSTON, TEXAS / ACCESS Newswire / February 26, 2025 / Founded in 1999, Southeast Houston Cardiology grew and thrived in the communities of Webster and Clear Lake, near NASA's Johnson Space Center. But as the practice's quarter-century anniversary neared, the seven physicians faced the combined challenges of flattening growth, rising overhead, and financial pressure from hospitals and insurers. Their solution: Merging their practice into CLS Health, the Houston region's leading physician-owned medical group.
A post-merger case study found CLS Health's management and processes demonstrated significant results after one year: increased patient volume, reduced overhead costs for Southeast Houston Cardiology doctors, and additional benefits that have improved both patient and physician satisfaction.
Dr. Gerard Abreo, co-founder of Southeast Houston Cardiology, reported that he is now seeing twice as many patients as he did before CLS Health acquired his practice. Meanwhile, CLS implemented changes that have reduced Abreo's overhead costs by more than a quarter, from 70 percent to 52 percent.
"The proof is in the pudding," Dr. Abreo said. "CLS saved our practice."
Choosing a Partner
In 2022, the practice's once-booming growth had slowed. The physician partners confronted the economic realities of today's healthcare and considered their options.
They could continue as they were, but the younger partners, still building their patient base, needed more assurance of growth. They could sell the practice to a hospital but would have less autonomy and weaker coding and billing systems. Or they could sell out to venture capital investors but would face the uncertainty of profit-first management and being re-sold in five years.
There also was the possibility of joining CLS Health. Dr. Abreo was already acquainted with CLS Health founder Dr. Mohammed Baba, as both started their practices in greater Houston in the late 1990s. The Southeast Houston Cardiology doctors did their research and chose CLS Health for its brilliant leadership team and excellent business model, Abreo said.
Staffing and Processes
The case study examined how CLS Health took over billing, staffing and all back-office functions and quickly achieved cost savings and adding revenue. "After just one or two months, I saw the efficiency of the system," Dr. Abreo said.
For example, Dr. Abreo's nurse practitioner had been working in the practice's office, calling in prescriptions and making phone calls to patients. CLS Health moved the NP to the hospital, where her abilities could generate revenue for the practice, and had medical assistants take over the office work for one-third the expense.
CLS Health processes also allow physicians to maximize their time, with thorough patient chart preparation, including collection of all tests, studies and notes from hospitals, labs and other physicians. "When I enter the patient's room, I am ready to go," Dr. Abreo said. "I have all the documents. That makes my diagnostic time very minimal and it's easy for me to proceed from patient to patient. When you have all that, the patient satisfaction is great, the physician satisfaction is great, and you have time to see many more patients."
Internal data analysis
The case study also shows the power of CLS Health's internal data analysis unit. Before the acquisition, Southeast Houston Cardiology was experiencing patient backlogs in one eight-room wing of examination rooms. CLS Health used data on patient arrival and leave time and case complexity to determine which cardiologists were most efficient. Assigning them to the backlogged area solved the problem, while also allowing all the cardiologists to have more cases. "I've doubled the number of patients I was seeing after we were acquired by CLS," Dr. Abreo said.
Financial Transparency
The case study also found that CLS Health addressed a key concern of the Southeast Houston Cardiology team as it was considering its future: financial transparency. Each physicians' income is affected by the share of the practice's overhead expenses - staffing, supplies, ancillary services and more - that is allocated to them, so clear, comprehensible accounting is essential.
CLS uses a software solution that gives physicians a dashboard showing their billings, overhead and details of that overhead on a daily basis. "CLS Health's financial transparency is the best I've seen in 25 years of practice," Abreo said. "If you have any questions, you can find out how much money is spent for everything down to the soap in office."
The Future of Medical Practice
A year after the acquisition, Dr. Abreo and his partners see their decision as the right one, the case study found. "The time for single practice is over," he said. "It is very hard to manage, it is very hard to compete, the managed care contracts are not going to come to you as a solo doc, so you have to either join a bigger group or sell to a hospital or to a venture capital group," he said.
"I think CLS is the best option," Abreo added. "I tell my colleagues, number one, they cut my overhead from 70 percent to 52 percent. Number two, I don't have to do any billing and I don't have to do any staffing. I can just practice cardiology. Number three, right now you are under the burden of all this administrative stuff. You are not happy. If you want a life that has nothing to do with billing and staffing and you just want to practice cardiology, join CLS!"
To learn more about what CLS Health offers to physician practices, visit the website.
About CLS Health
CLS Health is a physician-owned healthcare group with a pioneering approach to comprehensive care. With over 40 locations and 200+ providers in the Greater Houston area, CLS Health emphasizes the satisfaction and empowerment of its physicians as a key element in delivering exceptional patient care. To learn more, visit cls.health.
Contact Information
Isaiah Rincon
Media Relations Manager
bd@cls.health
832-557-3338
Maria Penaloza
maria.penaloza@newswire.com
SOURCE: CLS Health
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