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Gastroenterologists Join with EndoCenter Partners to Develop
a Center in the Heart of San Francisco
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Facility:
San Francisco Endoscopy Center, LLC
San Francisco, CA
Physician-partners:
Michael Abel, MD
Damian Augustyn, MD
Yanek S.Y. Chiu, MD
Daniel Conlin, MD
Jane Melnick, MD
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Richard Sundberg, MD
Jeffrey Sternberg, MD
Michael Verhille, MD
Peter Volpe, MD
Laurence Yee, MD |
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The Situation
For many physicians, the road between contemplating owning an
endocsopy center and actually developing one is long, with many
twists, turns, and delays along the way. Such was the case for
a group of gastroenterologists in San Francisco. According to Damian
Augustyn, MD, "A core group of us had been talking for years
about building our own endoscospy center. At one time, we considered
entering into a joint venture with a hospital, which sidetracked
us for a while. But eventually we realized that was not the way
to get things done." When the physicians heard that EndoCenter
Partners had been developing successful centers with gastroenterologists
in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay area, they agreed
to a dinner meeting with the company's founders, George Tinawi,
MD and Samuel Marcus, MD, PhD. Dr. Augustyn noted that, "After
we met with George and Sam, everything finally fell into place.
Our personalities clicked, we had shared goals, and we were on
our way." The Solution
Once a partnership agreement was in place, the hunt was on for a suitable location
in San Francisco. "It's always a challenge in San Francisco to find
a space, especially one that can satisfy specific needs. We also were 'fussy'
about the location," stated Dr. Augustyn. EndoCenter Partners worked
to identify appropriate potential sites and the partners chose one on California
Street. According to Dr. Augustyn, "After the space was found, the full
build out for the center began. It's a good design and things progressed
smoothly."
Dr. Augustyn observed, "The partnership has been very
amicable with only minor disagreements. We share a natural affinity with
common goals, so it is a cohesive group. EndoCenter Partners' employees
have proven to be very conscientious every step of the way. They were responsive
to the challenges of ramp-up and then to the efficient operation of an endoscopy
center."
In assessing the factors critical to the success of an endoscopy center, Dr.
Augustyn noted that it is important to get contracts with payers in place as
quickly as possible, to manage staffing to the volume of business, and to stay
on top of collections. EndoCenter Partners specializes in offering a turnkey
solution for endocscopy center development and management that addresses each
of these issues, freeing the physician partners to focus their attention on
delivering high quality patient care.
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