Why Scale Has Never Been More Important for Cardiology Practices

Much like the overall healthcare industry, the current market for cardiovascular services is highly competitive and volatile. Premier cardiologists are under pressure from many fronts, making it more challenging than ever to provide patients with the highest quality care. Many have come to realize that achieving greater scale in healthcare is critical to delivering better health outcomes while running a thriving, profitable practice.

The Realities of a Difficult Market

Private cardiology practices are finding it tough to compete with large, multi-specialty practices and hospital systems, especially in a fragmented market where it isn’t easy to differentiate. A number of factors are inhibiting the ability to deliver the most effective cardiovascular services, reach patients where they are, and continue to grow the organization:

• Operating costs are at an all-time-high. The combination of a tight labor market and high inflation has driven up wages, while medical supplies grow increasingly expensive and the cost to finance big-ticket diagnostic and treatment equipment at current interest rates has become a major financial burden. Meanwhile insurance costs continue to climb, both for group healthcare and medical malpractice coverage.
• Reimbursement rates remain under pressure. The AMA reports that on an inflation-adjusted basis, Medicare physician payments declined 29% from 2001 to 2024. That trend looks poised to continue, at least in the short time, as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released its final rule for the 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, with a conversion factor that is about 2.8% lower than in 2024. Value-based care initiatives that tie reimbursement to the quality and cost of care could further depress payments if the provider doesn’t meet the payer’s benchmarks.
• Administrative burdens are escalating. Keeping up with rapidly changing, increasingly complex technology is difficult and expensive for the average private practice. And that makes it difficult to run an efficient operation, maintain regulatory compliance, and head off cybersecurity threats. The administrative tasks required by payers further strain practices that are often operating with lean staffs.

Common Misconceptions About Scale

Realities like these make it clear that scale is imperative for any cardiology practice committed to providing the innovative, compassionate care their patients expect and deserve, while operating a thriving business. But while economies of scale in cardiology can help private practices overcome significant financial and operational challenges, some practices fear it could have unintended negative consequences.

For instance, there is often a misperception that joining forces with other premier practices will dilute their control and hamper their ability to chart their own course. Understandably, top-tier cardiologists want to maintain their clinical decision-making autonomy.

Many physicians also wonder whether they can find a partner they’re compatible with, particularly when it comes to organizational culture and values. After years of operating as an independent entity, the cardiology practice partners want assurance that if they join a platform or other organization, they won’t lose sight of their mission.

Reasons like these might discourage a cardiology practice from seeking a strong partnership as a path to growth and success, but they shouldn’t. If the practice conducts proper due diligence, they can find a partner that aligns with their mission, vision, and values and encourages physicians to make their own clinical decisions at the local level, always in the best interests of the patient.

A Cardiovascular Platform Turns Scale into a Powerful Advantage

Achieving greater scale positions your cardiology practice to deliver the highest quality care possible and thrive as a profitable business, particularly in a fast-changing, uncertain, and competitive environment. And joining a national cardiovascular platform is one of the most effective ways to gain the scale required to meet these equally important objectives.

Joining a leading cardiovascular platform like Cardiovascular Logistics (CVL) enables private practices to leverage all the benefits of scale in cardiology, including the following.

• More capital to invest. A cardiovascular platform with substantial financial backing has the resources to invest in innovations that improve care and accelerate growth. Access to capital opens the door to add new diagnostic and treatment services or launch new ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), urgent cardiac care centers, vein clinics, and other facilities that improve care access. Capital is also critical to funding investments in technologies and data analytics capabilities that improve care quality and drive operational efficiencies.
• Better talent acquisition. A practice with more resources will find it easier to recruit the most talented physicians, including new fellows who are deciding where to start their careers. Top-tier cardiologists are drawn to practices that perform cutting-edge procedures using the most advanced equipment and technology. A cardiovascular platform will also leverage its strong relationships with premier medical schools and fellowship programs to attract new physicians.
• Improved access to data. Developing clinical pathways that result in better patient outcomes demands access to expanded patient data sets—something a larger organization is ideally suited to provide.
• More competitive contracting. A larger organization like a cardiovascular platform has much more leverage when negotiating with payers and suppliers than a single private practice, wielding group purchasing power to reduce operational costs.
• Opportunities to offer more subspecialties and service lines. As cardiology becomes a specialty of subspecialties, the most successful practices are expanding their offerings to include high-demand disciplines like interventional cardiology and electrophysiology. The scale provided by a platform also enables practices to add ancillary services that support the full continuum of care and drive new revenue, such as PET CT and other advanced imaging techniques, intensive cardiac rehab, rhythm management, and remote patient monitoring.
• Best practice sharing. Joining forces with other premier cardiology practices creates opportunities to share ideas on improving clinical outcomes and optimizing operations. For instance, CVL runs physician advisory councils that facilitate knowledge sharing within specific disease states and service lines, along with practice enhancement councils that focus on how to run a sound, efficient practice.

Cardiology practices that have joined the CVL platform enjoy all the advantages of our national scale, enabling them to provide the best possible cardiovascular care, run efficient operations, and thrive in competitive markets. If you’re passionate about moving cardiovascular medicine forward and providing patients with the highest quality care, joining the CVL platform may be the best next step for your cardiology practice.

Contact CVL to discover how the right partnership can help you scale your practice so you can improve patient care, reduce your costs, and grow your business.

David Konur, FACHE

Chief Executive Officer, Cardiovascular Logistics

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