Attorney has physicians group back on sound footing

Andrew Botschner proved to be the perfect choice to assume the role of CEO of UT Medical Group (UTMG).

The Ohio-born attorney, an experienced general counsel for two large health systems in Cincinnati, stepped in to guide the embattled organization through troubled legal waters, effectively resolving a situation that had, at one point, appeared to be leading the respected 501 (c) 3 multi-specialty physician practice toward Chapter 7 bankruptcy and liquidation.

The legal problems arrived in July 2013 when a jury ruled against UTMG in a malpractice lawsuit, awarding the plaintiffs $33.5 million. The decision in the highly publicized case could easily have created a disaster, not only for UTMG, but the entire Memphis community it serves.  

“That was, I think, part of the allure of the job,” Botschner said. “I thought it was going to be an interesting challenge to deal with.”

Although the details of the resolution of that case are confidential, Botschner says the matter was settled successfully.

“That lawsuit no longer hangs over this organization in any way, shape or form,” he said. “It does not, has not and will not adversely impact UTMG.”

With a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from Wake Forest University and an MBA from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Botschner brought more to the game than merely dazzling litigation skills. His early experience included serving as general counsel for several Ohio healthcare organizations and a physician group. Additionally, he helped the University of Cincinnati put its health system together and handled a number of transactional mergers and acquisitions. These skills and experiences proved an excellent fit for UTMG’s current growth strategy, which emphasizes business development.

“We are looking at every business opportunity and joint venture activity with the health systems here in town,” he said. “The UTMG is thriving and open for business, ready to partner with physicians and providers throughout the Memphis community and beyond in any type of entrepreneurial effort that advances healthcare in the area and enables us to provide quality physician services. We’re open to hearing any ideas, and we’re ready to talk.”

Botschner’s connection to the medical field is literally lifelong; his father was an obstetrician/gynecologist and harbored hopes that his son, too, would be a doctor. Early opportunities elevated Botschner through service to the UC Physicians in Cincinnati, Deaconess Health System in Ohio, and a Cincinnati-based provider of pharmacy and related services, as well as ownership of and general counsel for Care Point Partners, LLC.

“I’ve always enjoyed the business side of the equation much more than the legal side,” he said, but believes strongly that a law degree is the best degree one can get in order to obtain a good holistic understanding of business.

“It really helps to prepare you in terms of asking the right questions, spotting the issues; and ultimately, if you’re a good lawyer, you’re not someone who is constantly saying ‘no’ to situations. You’re thinking creatively and outside the box in terms of how to provide solutions.”

Ultimately the best training, he believes, was ownership of the home infusion company that he started seven years ago, and grew from a start-up into a $107 million business he sold in 2013.

“My background is in law, but my focus is really the entrepreneurial side of things,” he said.  In an open partnership invitation to the healthcare community — not only in Memphis but beyond local and state boundaries — Botschner emphasized, “It really is our desire to pursue every type of business opportunity, from imaging to physician services, diagnostics, telemedicine — you name it, we’re open to it and we’re looking into it.

"Our physicians are an outstanding group of high-quality practitioners, and we want to leverage that strength with respect to the services UT Medical Group provides, and offer those services to the greater community — all the while remaining respectful of our mission, which is to support the College of Medicine and the teaching, research and clinical activities which constitute the threefold mission of the UT Medical Group.”

Balancing that mission is the economic concern that all healthcare organizations share: “No money, no mission," Botschner said. "We need to be out there doing everything we can to further the bottom line of this organization as well as to provide the services that the community is looking for, in a very cutting-edge way.”

Thus they are moving aggressively to reduce the costs of administrative overhead while revamping the compensation program for physicians, based upon quality of care and productivity.

Although their recent activities have involved several office relocations and development of practices in Germantown and the eastern suburbs, UTMG administrative offices remain at 1407 Union Avenue, where Botschner has initiated substantial changes. They’re implementing a new-generation electronic health record as well as a new billing system, and have created a Partners Central Business Office shared and jointly owned by UT Medical Group and its valued partners, Regional One and the Methodist system. The Partners Office handles billing functions for UTMG, but also for the physician groups that were spun off from UTMG to the Methodist system and to the Regional One system.

“My goal,” Botschner said, “is to have a paradigm shift here, to really become a patient-centered, community-focused entrepreneurial organization that is designed to serve the greater Memphis community — through reinvestment, as well.”

Although his 15- to 16-hour workdays don’t allow much time for leisure, and he has necessarily neglected tennis and golf activities since his arrival in Memphis, he continues to plan trips and set goals: a trip to the British Open at St. Andrews in July and learning to fly a plane. His “Done That” list includes a 50th-birthday ski trip to the Alps, and travel to the Caribbean, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, London and more.