Clearwater Cardiovascular Consultants Flourishes by Joining a Leading Cardiovascular Platform

The Challenge: Continue to Thrive as a Private Practice in a Competitive Market

In 2025, Clearwater Cardiovascular Consultants (CCC) is celebrating 50 years as a successful practice serving patients in the Tampa Bay, Florida area through 32+ providers across three locations. With a growing population in need of cardiovascular care, the region offers tremendous growth potential for a practice that delivers patient-centric, high-quality interventional, diagnostic, and preventive cardiovascular services.

But in a market where practices are increasingly owned by hospitals and health systems, it was becoming tougher to stay competitive and profitable. CCC was eager to expand its reach by opening new locations, yet faced operational challenges similar to all cardiology practices.

“We wanted to negotiate better contracts for equipment, insurance, and employee benefits, improve our ability to recruit top physicians, and strengthen our opportunities to share best practices with other premier cardiologists,” said Dr. Jorge Navas. With many long-term senior executives nearing retirement, the practice also realized it would need to replace the management acumen of these key employees and weather the transition.

The Solution: Join a Premier Cardiovascular Platform

These challenges and goals led CCC to explore joining a national cardiovascular platform. “We preferred a governance model that allowed us to drive our own ship and to stay nimble, and neither is possible when you’re a hospital-owned practice,” said Dr. Michael Barry.

“Joining a private equity-backed platform would allow us to maintain our independence, keep control of our practice, and participate in decision-making at the local and national level,” Navas added. CCC partners also sought an entrepreneurial culture, where they could implement positive changes on patients’ behalf and share in the rewards of growth-driving investments.

“By combining resources with a reputable platform, we believed we would be in a better position to succeed financially,” Barry added.

The Choice: Cardiovascular Logistics

Confident that joining a platform was the right next step, CCC began the rigorous process of finding the best-fit partner. After conducting extensive due diligence on five platforms, the practice chose Cardiovascular Logistics (CVL).

CVL made the short list at the suggestion of two premier practices which CCC had long-standing relationships with: First Coast Cardiovascular Institute and Cardiovascular Institute of the South. “We knew each other well and had been sharing best practices for over 20 years,” Barry said.

CVL topped other competitors by meeting or exceeding the practice’s top criteria—from alignment on mission, vision, and culture, to a physician-led model, to the trustworthiness of the financial sponsor, to full clinical autonomy.

“We’re fully aligned in our long-term vision and focus on high-quality medicine, and we’re very compatible philosophically,” Navas said. The partners appreciated that CVL is committed to enhancing the practice without micro-managing—a stark contrast to several other platforms.

“They believed they could elevate our practice and were excited to partner with us, because they recognize we’re a forward-thinking business,” Barry said. For example, CCC offers an innovative at-home Cardiac Recovery Program to improve patient outcomes, PET/CT scanning for better diagnostics, and an advanced cath lab.

Joining a platform of equally high-caliber practices also proved attractive to CCC. “Every CVL practice brings unique strengths, and they’re often doing things no other practice in the country is,” Barry said. The fact that Lee Equity had already established a successful national urology platform gave CCC further confidence in the decision.

The Process: A Smooth Path to Success

Day-to-day operations remain the same for the practice since joining CVL, though the administrative team now works closely with the platform staff on data tracking and reporting. The practice has gained a stronger employee benefits package and better health insurance as a result of the move. And as CVL eventually migrates its practices to common accounting and EMR systems, CCC will realize the advantages of robust technology.

CCC cardiologists have maintained ownership of clinical decision-making locally, and many participate on the platform’s Physician Advisory Councils and Practice Enhancement Councils. “We’re exchanging innovative ideas and enhancing our operations by working closely with other premier cardiologists,” Navas said.

CCC has also implemented several CVL practice management recommendations to improve efficiency or increase revenue. “As our practice evolves, the CVL team helps us achieve a higher level of care and run our business more effectively,” Barry explained.

The Results: Greater Investments, Stronger Collaboration

CCC enjoys better access to financial resources to invest in technology that improves patient care. For example, PET-CT scanners yield better clinical data and better patient care, inevitably improving operations and strengthening the practice’s financials. CCC is also leveraging the remote patient monitoring experience of another platform practice to add this high-value service line, and they’re exploring opportunities to offer high-quality care at a lower cost through ambulatory surgery centers.

The practice has experienced patient growth of 2-3% since joining CVL and anticipates double-digit growth as it opens new locations. CCC is even partnering with another Florida-based CVL practice to develop an aligned strategy to expand their footprints.

“We each have our own local strategy, but we’re also collaborating on initiatives to expand across the state and improve patient care,” Navas said.

CCC is talking with another CVL practice about its centralized call center to determine if this model could improve efficiencies and quality of life for its own team. There are even preliminary plans to join forces with other CVL practices on cardiovascular clinical trials, bringing more treatment options to their respective patients.

The practice is also reaping the benefit of CVL’s scale, as hoped.

“We’re starting to negotiate better contracts that reduce costs for our cath lab, and we expect to do the same in electrophysiology,” Navas said. Sharing resources on the accounting, finance, and credentialing side further reduces overhead expenses.

CVL’s scale and national brand recognition are helping CCC recruit top talent in a tight labor market, while the platform’s financial resources have the potential to offset escalating starting salaries that can jeopardize a practice’s ability to expand.

“We now have the resources to do many of the things we have wanted to do for years,” Barry said, thanks to a dedicated team with the manpower and expertise to vet innovative ideas, then implement and scale them effectively.

“It’s been a blessing to be part of a larger organization that can compete with big hospitals,” Navas said. “Given the realities of the healthcare landscape, we know we made the right decision.”

Interested in Joining a Leading Cardiovascular Platform?

If your practice is looking to stay competitive, expand its reach, and enhance patient care, consider partnering with CVL. Contact us today to discover how joining a physician-owned, physician-led platform can provide the resources, autonomy, and collaborative opportunities your practice needs to thrive.