Welcome to Cornerstone Healthcare Consulting & Management

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Consultant to Patient! 3rd Hip Surgery!

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I fell in love with aviation at around the age of 10. From that point forward, I became very focused on my goal to develop that passion into a career as a United States Air Force pilot. In doing so, I joined Civil Air Patrol (US Air Force Auxiliary), started flying planes at the age of 12, and taking lessons by age 14. As a cadet in the Civil Air Patrol, I rose through the ranks, achieving Cadet Lieutenant Colonel, of which could only be achieved by attending Cadet Officer School, located at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. It was also during these years that I learned to network. I had developed a friendship with a retired Air Force Major General, who had flown SR-71’s and U-2 spy planes during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Literally, all the stars were aligning for me to achieve the goal of attending the US Air Force Academy and becoming an Air Force pilot. That is, until a basketball injury resulting in two knee surgeries and two years of rehabilitation that changed everything.  

Have you ever heard the saying, “I made plans and then God laughed”? That saying was very appropriate for my circumstances. I had been planning on becoming an Air Force pilot from the age of 10, until the age of 17, when I realized that would no longer be possible. What seemed devastating, actually opened the door for where God intended me to be. Through my years of surgery and rehabilitation, including losing the years of high school athletics I had also strived so much for, I discovered a passion for medicine. I had always had an interest in wellness and biology. Realizing I could sincerely empathize with patients coupled with my sincere interest for medicine, I decided to apply that same drive I once used in becoming a pilot and redirect that energy toward a career in healthcare.

Initially, I wanted to enter healthcare on the clinical side, either in orthopedics or emergency medicine. To prepare for this new change in direction, I volunteered at a local ambulance base, and requested to shadow as many physicians, including in surgery as possible. During that time, I observed multiple joint replacement surgeries, ACL repairs, shoulder repair, and even a lower back surgery. But, halfway through my undergraduate degree, my plans were forced to change again. As much as I enjoyed the clinical opportunities I was given, they also made me realize I did not have the stomach for the clinical side of medicine. However, I realized I really loved medicine, and considered ways to stay in the industry, realizing there needs to be someone to runs these facilities. Therefore, I switched my degree to Healthcare Administration.

Once again, I used that strong passion to redirect my energy for the new path I was on. I volunteered at a local Children’s Hospital, identifying it as a great way to understand patients, developing a better sense of empathy as well as insight for how I could help them when I graduated from college. Additionally, I contacted a local hospital, asking if I could interview their CEO, interested to understand his journey to the top, and how I could learn from him. The hospital not only agreed to schedule me time with the CEO, but they allowed me to have time with each member of their Executive Leadership team that day. I was convinced I was going to be the CEO of one of the local large health systems. In the quest for that aspiring role, a good friend of mine, who was a Nurse, was kind enough to be candid with me, saying hospital leadership was not where I was supposed to be. Although I couldn’t see it at the time, she was right. I am not built to operate within the confinements of bureaucracy and staying in the lines. Rather, I live outside the box, identifying problems and even more importantly, identifying solutions. My friend was right. I never took a position with a hospital. Instead, I forged my own path as a healthcare entrepreneur. My journey professionally is often taking all kinds of twists and turns, always looking for ways to improve the healthcare industry. My journey personally has brought me back to orthopedics, once again, as a patient. About 6 1/2 years ago, I injured my hip, resulting in surgery. In 2020, I was committed to not putting on the quarantine pounds and started an aggressive new workout series. As a result, I re-injured my hip, resulting in a second surgery. I have behaved since that surgery, but it needs some additional repair. Over the next six weeks, I am going to take you on a journey with me as a healthcare consultant who has become the patient. In this journey, I will blog my experiences throughout all my pre-op appointments, through to surgery and post-operatively. This will allow me to bring a perspective of what it’s like to be a patient though the lens of someone who is in healthcare, and how I can use that perspective to further my quest to create changes in the industry that help both patients and physicians.

Fighting to Lower Health Plan Costs!

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From the humble Buffalo suburb of Cheektowaga to the owner of a large health plan, consisting of 400,000 members and clients such as the University of Notre Dame, Dunkin Donuts and Fisher-Price Toys, Ron Zoeller knows all there is to know about health insurance.

Similarly, his business partner, Kevin Gannon, one of eight children raised in Lackawanna, New York, rose from his beginnings as a broker of life insurance, to owning and selling his own brokerage, to joining Ron in the development of Azeros Health Plans in 2019.

As the only Managing General Administrator in the Self-Funded health insurance industry, Azeros is about more than selling employer health plans. Using their combined years’ worth of experience, they are seeking to partner with employers to seek solutions that improve their bottom line and positively benefit their employees. Companies possessing 100+ employees will benefit in becoming self-funded by removing the “fat” that goes toward health insurance admin and brokerage fees. Instead, they will pay dollar-for-dollar toward their expenses, ultimately saving significantly on their health plan costs.

Transitioning companies to self-funded health insurance isn’t the only way Ron and Kevin are saving money for their clients. Additionally, they employ the practice of Reference Based Pricing (RBP), as well as a prescription benefits management program that is saving employers as much as 30% on prescription costs! Never heard of RBP? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Typically, in-patient charges can result in charges that are 250-400% of Medicare. Through Reference Based Pricing, Azeros works to obtain charges that are 150-200% of Medicare, half of what they typically would be!

Interested to learn more about what Ron and Kevin and the Azeros team can do for your company? Listen to this video to learn more, as well as head to their website at www.azeros1.com There, you can use a tool they have named the “Under-Righter”, to see what savings you may be able to achieve. Under 100 employees? That’s okay, they can still assist your organization as a fully insured employer, including still being able to assist with the significant prescription medicine savings! And yes, even if your company has already renewed their annual plan, they can assist you at any time!

Listen in as Ron and Kevin discuss their backgrounds, what they’re working on now, and how Azeros and Cornerstone are collaborating to help both employers and physicians! Also, stick around for the end, when Ron tells us the story of when the Bills almost left Buffalo, and how he influenced them staying.

Physician-Centric Consulting Services!

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Independent physicians need an ally.  Provider practices are consolidating everywhere.  Hospital systems are assuming control and purport to represent the physician perspective.  In a two-year period, the 2,800 U.S. hospital systems have bought 8,000 medical practices.

National health insurers are also in the fray, now buying regional medical groups.  United Healthcare has purchased the largest independent medical practice in Massachusetts.  United, Aetna, and Cigna aren’t yet a significant presence in Buffalo or Rochester, but when that occurs, relationships will change.

In this new environment, Cornerstone represents group practices, sole practitioners, and hospital – employed doctors.  Working as an employee for a healthcare system does not eliminate the need for an independent brand identity.

We are the physician’s “agent” – whatever is needed, we provide analysis and insight.   As important, we implement our recommendations.  Our functions can include marketing, branding, revenue cycle management, the opening of a new practice, or a merger with another.  All services are confidential, of course.

Being aware of industry trends is essential to our business.  The rising cost of medical care to Medicare, Medicaid, and Commercial (employer) budgets has put pressure on payer/provider relationships.

Western New York is not immune to the dynamic.  Why did UPMC/Pittsburgh, itself both a hospital system and health insurer, buy WCA Hospital in Jamestown?  Why did HealthNow Blue Cross allow itself to be taken over by Highmark/Pittsburgh and what will it mean to Buffalo providers?

The ultimate healthcare goal is to serve the patient; their needs get lost in the typical shuffle.  Health plan deductibles have increased dramatically, and some medical groups perform front-end credit checks on new patients.  Access to primary care is a major problem.

As Cornerstone moves forward, it has partnered with Azeros Health Plans in developing an Exclusive Provider Organization which offers visit capacity while eliminating co-pays.   The EPO model offers much needed physician independence, access to primary care, and cost control.

We want to be the trusted advisor of the medical practice.  No job is too big or too small.  Schedule a consultation via our website at www.cornerstonehealthcareconsulting.com.

Interview With a Digital Marketer

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You have likely heard of digital marketing, but what about medical marketing? In this Tune in Tuesday video, we learn from Job Valluthammanunkal, owner of digital marketing company, JMax Media Solutions about how he got his start in marketing, and how his agency works with Cornerstone Healthcare Consulting to advance the marketing goals of medical practices.

In this interview with Job, we ask him key questions about the challenges his team witnesses in taking on new medical practice website designs, as well as the importance of social media and google ads. In respect to social media and google ads, we put Job on the spot to answer whether they are even necessary. If anyone is an expert on google ads, it is Job. He and his team have done amazing work to assist their clients in optimizing their google ads, while lowering pay per click pricing and thus adding to their bottom line.

In addition to the healthcare industry, Job’s company is actively assisting organizations from all industries, taking on projects as simple as a website design, to as extensive as companies fully outsourcing their marketing needs to his agency. This includes a company in Buffalo, New York with a monthly google ad spend of $20,000-30,000!

JMax Media Solutions and Cornerstone Healthcare Consulting have teamed up to assist multiple medical practices and independent physicians with their marketing needs. We have collaborated to build websites not just for medical practices, but to also develop the personal brand identify of independent physicians. Additionally, we have worked together on social media strategy, and the business development and marketing of a medical spa in Rochester, New York.

Are you in need of marketing, branding or social media development/management? Contact us today for a free consultation!

Interested to learn more about how we can help you achieve your medical marketing goals? Click here to learn more!

Making Private Medical Practices Sustainable

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In today’s world of big corporate health care systems, private practices are a space for patients who want a different experience and physicians who do not want to work in a big system structure. Private practices often face sustainability issues, many physicians find themselves looking at the possibility of selling or ceasing operations. Melissa Marsocci, the founder of Cornerstone Healthcare Consulting and Management, is an expert in healthcare administration and management, specializing in guiding private physician practices into a more sustainable future, increasing business and quality of patient care.

Marsocci has a long history of successfully running multiple practices of her own and was offering telemedicine well before the COVID-19 pandemic made it so popular. Now, she is working to help private practice physicians turn their business around with her unique and highly effective turnaround consulting method. Her goal is to keep private practices in business and allow practitioners to focus on their area of expertise, treating patients.

Marsocci ‘s approach is distinctly different than most, setting her apart from other healthcare management consultants. Most consultants come in, review the practice, identify problem areas, develop a plan to address them, then leave. Marsocci explains that she takes a whole-picture approach, she is not just going to give a practice a once over and some suggestions. Instead, she conducts a thorough, very in-depth examination of the business, getting into the details about literally everything to gain a full perspective of how the business operates, and where things can be improved. Her goal is to reduce both operating costs and overhead, once she is done identifying areas and methods of improvement, she sticks around to implement them.

Marsocci focuses on areas that are often overlooked when practitioners are trying to figure out why their business is not sustainable. Part of the process is in-depth, confidential interviews with every member of the staff, and determining if personnel are in the right positions for their education and skills. It is often the case that someone who may not have the right skill set is making decisions about things like benefits packages, vendors, supply chain contracts, and more that end up costing the practice money. Marsocci goes through the practice top to bottom with a fine-tooth comb, then develops a detailed plan, specific to that practice’s needs, to move forward.

One of the areas that showcases Marsocci as a changemaker is that she is willing to do whatever it takes to help a private practice turn around its business and has the skills to back it up. She will do everything from implementing websites and marketing, doing social media, rebranding, engaging the staff, and more. A big part of the work is improving outdated technology, Marsocci is hands-on, she will install phone systems herself if need be!

Marsocci is passionate about high-quality medical care and is a shining example of an independent woman in business. She always had an entrepreneurial mindset, starting a lawn mowing business in college to support herself. Originally, she planned to study clinical medicine, eventually realizing her skills were better placed in management, where she made her passion for providing the best possible care for patients come to life. As an only parent to her young son, Marsocci is an amazing example of a driven businesswoman who has made her mark, building a business to meet her own needs as well as those of her clients. Learn more about Marsocci and her impressive model of turnaround consulting on her website, and connect with her on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!

New Physicians Choosing Private Practice Again

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As the workforce evolves and younger generations are entering into the mix, there has been a big push for independence and working for oneself. This is true in every industry, and especially so in the healthcare world. Many younger physicians and medical specialists are looking for options involving private practices, not wanting to be tied down or restricted by big hospitals and healthcare systems.

Melissa Marsocci, Founder of Cornerstone Healthcare Consulting and Management, specializes in helping practitioners make the jump into private practice and expects to see a lot more of them popping up in the next few years. This is in part due to patterns she sees that resemble what happened a few decades ago, and due to the business and healthcare management environment of today.

As Marsocci explains, this draw towards opening private practices stems in part from younger generations entering the workforce, and not being satisfied with the status quo. Many people now want to go into the entrepreneurial space, while still working one-on-one with patients.

Some physicians feel reluctant to get into a contract with a big healthcare system because they are limited in how they can practice, these systems often have patient quotas, specific treatment timeframes, and treatment limitations. In other cases, it is simply a practitioner wanting to focus on a more customer-centric model, and wanting the freedom of owning their own business.

Start-ups of any kind are easier now more than ever, without the requirement of a brick-and-mortar space there is no limit to how practitioners can connect with patients. Cornerstone Healthcare Consulting and Management has a turnkey solution that can get private practices up and running quickly, with everything they need to provide the best patient care.

They also work with practitioners looking to purchase or partner into an established practice, going through all the pros and cons, helping them decide which route forward best serves their needs.

Marsocci has been in the business a long time and has herself started multiple successful private practices in the Greater Philadelphia Region and New York area, so she knows what it takes both from the management side of it and the owner side. She is not a practitioner, she is an expert in healthcare systems management, and knows the industry inside and out.

Because part of her business is working with practices looking to sell, or improve their sustainability, she knows all the different areas where things can go wrong or need improvement. Her company helps with every single phase of the process, she will do everything from the ground up, including scouting out retail space, coordinating the website, installing the phone system, literally everything.

Marsocci is so successful because she never loses sight of the objective, providing the best care and making things better for the patient. She strives to be cutting edge and on top of trends in the industry, looking at all the new methods and business models that are working.

An example of that is telemedicine, which she was offering well before the COVID-19 pandemic made it so popular. As an entrepreneur herself, she knows exactly what struggles and challenges these practitioners will face and has a ready-made way to approach it.

Marsocci is an incredibly positive and insightful person, deeply committed to helping both physicians and patients. As a single mother, and woman in business, she understands how important work-life balance is and incorporates that into everything she does.

Connect with Marsocci on social media through LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, and visit the Cornerstone Healthcare Consulting and Management website to see how they can help get your private practice started.