Mary O'Connor, MD, serves as a professor emerita of orthopedics at Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic and is co-founder and chief medical officer of Vori Health. She was previously a professor of orthopedics and rehabilitation at New Haven, Conn.-based Yale School of Medicine.
Dr. O'Connor will serve on the panel "Technology Revolutionizing Spine, Orthopedics Today" at Becker's 19th Annual Spine, Orthopedic & Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference. As part of an ongoing series, Becker's is talking to healthcare leaders who plan to speak at the conference, which will take place in Chicago from June 16-18.
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Question: What issues are you spending most of your time on today?
Dr. Mary O'Connor: Vori Health, a nationwide MSK/orthopedic medical practice dedicated to preoperative, postoperative and nonoperative care, is in an exciting period of growth. We are helping drive value for patients, ASCs, surgeons, orthopedics, pain and beyond, so I am spending time ensuring clinical alignment with our partners and driving clinical innovation with our partners.
Q: What are your top challenges and how will they change over the next 12 months?
MO: Challenges and opportunities are two sides of the same coin. The recession will put economic pressure on all in healthcare, and we'll see what happens with parity laws for virtual care. We strongly believe in hybrid care and think the conversation should be about integrating virtual care into on-the-ground care versus a conversation of in-person versus virtual. The benefit of a looming recession is the opportunity that these same economic pressures will drive payers, self-insured employers and anyone in the value payment world to partner with us, as our model drives great outcomes at lower costs through evidence-based care.
Q: How are you thinking about investments and growth in the next two years?
MO: We will continue to invest in product features that drive an exceptional patient experience and support our nationwide practice. Patient experience is so important to us as it drives engagement, which drives outcomes. We are now registered with the FDA as a medical device and will open up remote therapeutic monitoring to our partners.
Q: What are you most excited about right now?
MO: There is so much I am excited about at Vori! The two items that most readily come to mind are our updated care plan and our sensorless motion tracking for the home exercise program. Our care plan focuses on "What matters to you" and not "What is the matter with you." Staying patient-centered is at our core. Our sensorless motion tracking will give us great data on how patients are engaging with their home exercise program — as we all appreciate, most patients do not do exercises at home — and help us drive an even better experience.