6 8 S U P P L E M E N T T O O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E A U G U S T 2 0 1 7
ing healthcare waste instead of cutting patient-centered services. "You need very
strong physician champions and administrative leadership to pull it off," he says.
"You also need really thick skin, because you'll be taking heat from a lot of direc-
tions."
So, is it worth all the effort? "Absolutely," says Mr. Relph. Although the rep-
less model may be a fringe movement at the moment, he believes it will gain
more adopters going forward. "As payers continue to compress payment on vir-
tually everything we do, working to create better value is the only way to con-
tinue to be here and fulfill our mission," says Mr. Relph. "It's good business from
our perspective, and it's a value proposition for consumers and payers, too."
"Sales reps do an excellent job, but you're often paying them more than the
surgeon is paid to take care of the patient," says Dr. Botimer. "That's not the
best use of healthcare dollars."
OSM
