Expanding Orthopedic Clinical Care
1. The Engagement Request
A leading healthcare system sought to expand its orthopedic clinical services to better serve patients across a broader geographic region. The organization needed to launch a new orthopedic clinical program that would not only extend care to underserved areas but also establish a scalable and repeatable onboarding process to support future growth. The primary challenge was ensuring seamless integration across seven counties in four states within the first year while maintaining high-quality patient care and operational efficiency.
2. The Solutions
Program Launch & Service Expansion
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Conducted market analysis to identify high-need regions and strategically prioritize service expansion.
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Partnered with local healthcare facilities and providers to establish satellite orthopedic clinics, ensuring accessibility for patients.
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Implemented standardized clinical protocols to maintain consistency in patient care across all locations.
Scalable Onboarding & Training Process
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Designed a centralized onboarding framework to streamline provider integration, reducing ramp-up time for new locations.
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Developed a digital training curriculum and operational playbook to ensure alignment with clinical and administrative best practices.
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Created a mentorship model to enhance knowledge-sharing among newly onboarded clinicians.
Sustainable Growth & Future Alignment
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Introduced data-driven performance tracking to monitor patient volume, appointment efficiency, and care outcomes.
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Established cross-state collaboration mechanisms to optimize scheduling and resource allocation.
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Built a roadmap for future expansion, ensuring continuous improvement and adaptability as the program scaled.
3. The Processes
By integrating both PDSA and ADKAR, the expansion effort not only met its ambitious first-year goals but also established a scalable, replicable model for continued growth and service excellence.
PDSA: Driving Continuous Improvement in Orthopedic Expansion
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The Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle provided a structured, iterative framework to ensure that each phase of the orthopedic clinical care expansion was effectively implemented, assessed, and refined.
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Plan: Conducted a market analysis to identify high-need regions, established partnerships with local providers, and designed a standardized onboarding and training framework to ensure clinical and operational consistency.
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Do: Launched orthopedic services in seven counties across four states, implementing the new clinical protocols, onboarding providers, and rolling out digital training modules.
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Study: Monitored key performance metrics, including provider ramp-up time, patient appointment capacity, and care consistency across locations. Collected feedback from clinicians and administrators to identify operational challenges.
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Act: Leveraged data-driven insights to refine the onboarding process, improve cross-location scheduling efficiency, and introduce additional mentorship support to enhance provider integration.
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This cycle allowed for continuous optimization, ensuring scalability and efficiency while maintaining high-quality patient care.
ADKAR: Managing Change for Seamless Integration
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To facilitate provider adoption and operational alignment, the ADKAR model was used to guide change management across new orthopedic service locations.
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Awareness: Communicated the strategic need for expansion and its impact on patient care, ensuring alignment across leadership, providers, and support teams.
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Desire: Engaged key stakeholders—including physicians, administrators, and partner facilities—by highlighting the benefits of streamlined onboarding, operational efficiency, and improved patient access.
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Knowledge: Provided comprehensive training through digital learning modules, operational playbooks, and standardized clinical protocols to ensure consistent service delivery.
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Ability: Implemented hands-on mentorship programs and real-time performance tracking to support providers as they adapted to the new system.
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Reinforcement: Established ongoing performance monitoring, cross-state collaboration mechanisms, and leadership touchpoints to sustain improvements and drive long-term adherence to best practices.
4. The Results
Successfully expanded orthopedic services to seven counties across four states in the first year.
Increased patient appointment capacity by 25%, addressing gaps in service availability.
Reduced provider onboarding time by 30%, accelerating patient access to care
Established a replicable and scalable framework that supported continued regional growth and alignment with organizational goals.
5. The Key Takeaways
This initiative not only extended critical orthopedic care to underserved regions but also positioned the healthcare system for continued strategic expansion in the years ahead.