Children's Mercy takes on local pediatric practice

After learning three weeks ago that it would be closed by parent company Pediatrix Medical Group Inc. (NYSE: MD), Pediatrix Cardiology of Springfield PC has been acquired by Children’s Mercy Kansas City.

The announcement was made yesterday by Dr. Robert W. Steele, executive vice president and chief strategy and innovation officer at CMKC, during a Discover Children’s Mercy informational event in Springfield.

CMKC has entered into a collaboration with Mercy Springfield Communities to expand pediatric care, and it announced that it was in the process of making multiple hires of pediatric specialists to start seeing patients on an inpatient and outpatient basis immediately in Springfield.

Steele told Springfield Business Journal that taking on the local Pediatrix practice is in addition to its efforts to bring more pediatric physicians to Springfield.

“I’m going to put that off to the side because they were already in town,” he said of the Pediatrix practice.

Yet losing the practice could have meant losing cardiology care for its patients, who span 53 counties, extending even into Oklahoma and Kansas, he said.

“What do those cardiologists do? They either have to get acquired by somebody or they have to then invest in their own practice,” Steele said. “They were essentially looking at shutting down, so that’s when they reached out. We just said we can’t lose pediatric cardiology in town. That would be horrible. That just means more kids leaving southwest Missouri.” 

Dr. Frederick Emge of Pediatrix Cardiology of Springfield noted the ink is barely dry on his agreement with CMKC. He said when he learned in a meeting three weeks ago that Pediatrix would be divesting itself of all of its outpatient clinics – including the Springfield office – within 90 days, he immediately got on the phone with the head of cardiology at CMKC. Within two days, Steele and Stacy Doyle, senior vice president for ambulatory and physician practice operations, came to Springfield to meet with the practice.

“We had a serious discussion,” Emge said. “It quickly evolved that there was a distinct value in our practice – we’ve been here for 35 years now.” 

Emge said the practice serves as the primary pediatric cardiology provider for a huge area, and the acquisition is preventing it from closing its doors. 

“We’re the only rural pediatric cardiology practice that pediatrics have,” he said. 

Had the practice disappeared, Emge said, the area would have lost two echocardiography techs with 50 years of combined experience. As a result of the agreement with CMKC, cardiology services can continue to grow. 

Emge said the practice works seamlessly with local physicians.

“We’re integrated with everyone,” he said. “We have telehealth and electronic connections to everyone so we can move echoes around while the patient’s in the office. We often get an opinion before the patient even leaves the office.

“I think we provide excellent care despite being in a smaller community.”

He added that the Pediatrix Medical Group president was trying to protect the Springfield practice from the company’s changes because of the effect it would have on patient care locally.
“There’s a secret sauce to doing what we do,” he said. “Pretty much all the pediatricians that we deal with on a regular basis have my cellphone number on their cellphone, and they’ll text me any time of day with questions. It’s a personal connection that unfortunately when you’re in a big center you just don’t get.”

He said the practice has been growing continually over the past 5-10 years.

Emge said one problem that exists for specialty care providers in Springfield with its two large hospital systems is what he calls the balkanization of medical services. 

“Some of the specialists at one hospital don’t even know specialists at the other place, which is, you know, odd,” he said. 

Because of this, local specialists have missed out on an opportunity to provide cross-coverage for one another, creating the need for physicians to be on constant call, Emge said. 

“Business decisions got in the way of good patient care,” he said. “I mean, we’re not unique – that happens every place.” 

Emge said he is hopeful that the hospital collaboration will help to solve some of the problems that exist with pediatric care locally. 

The Pediatrix Cardiology of Springfield website lists two cardiologists, Emge and Dr. Alan Tong. Services offered are listed as echocardiography, event and Holter monitoring, exercise testing, outpatient care and preventive cardiology.

Pediatrix Medical Group’s May earnings report noted first-quarter revenue of $495.1 million, up from $491 million a year earlier. The increase reflected growth in same-unit revenue of 2.3%, the report stated, and patient value increased by 1.3% for the quarter year over year.

Dr. James D. Swift, CEO of the parent organization, said in the report that key priorities for 2024 would be to focus sharply on operating efficiency.

“We believe that our operating plans, combined with our strong financial position, will benefit all of our stakeholders,” he said in the report.