Worcester Business Journal

New Reliant CEO navigates changing healthcare land- scape to keep his medical group profitable, collaborative and efficient L ast year around this time, Reliant Medical Group was in a tight spot financially. Despite high quality and patient satis- faction ratings, Central Massachusetts' largest independent medical group had just announced it was laying off 3 per- cent of its 2,550 employees because of a projected budget shortfall. By year's end, the nonprofit was oper- ating at a loss of $9.7 million, accord- ing to the company. A steady hand BY LAURA FINALDI Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer That was what Tarek Elsawy, Reliant's new president and CEO, inherited when he took the reins in January. By managing total medical expenses, implementing position control and focusing more on accountability, the nonprofit was able to turn that loss into a gain, according to Elsawy. Reliant is on track for a positive operating surplus of $15.5 million for 2016, a 2.3-per- cent margin gain and no layoffs. Numbers aside, the new CEO also inherited a multi- specialty medical group he says is much further along in the ongoing transition towards population health management compared to other healthcare networks across the state and even the country. Reliant, he said, also provides high levels of care, as demonstrated by its own patient satisfaction and quality rankings – show- ing 96.6 percent of Reliant patients would recommend their provider to others, and 97.4 percent would rec- ommend their practice. Looking beyond his first 10 months, Elsawy said he will focus on financial stability, growing Reliant's team- based care model, expanding further in existing markets, and paying attention to the potential for innovation that he said already exists within the fabric of the company. "I'm wary when people say we could become the national model for anything, but I think we absolutely could become a national model of how to deliver care," Elsawy said. 10 Worcester Business Journal | October 10, 2016 | wbjournal.com Tarek Elsawy Title: President & CEO Company: Reliant Medical Group Location: Worcester Education: Graduated from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine; residency and internship at the University of Virginia School of Medicine; and research fellow at Johns Hopkins University Previous company: Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, working on clinical transformation in inpatient and outpatient care Previous role: Cleveland Clinic's vice president of regional medical operations and affairs – responsible for 18 family health centers and held a leadership role in eight hospitals, where he represented 12,000 employees and $2.9 billion in revenue Tarek Elsawy's office in the Mercantile Center, overlooks downtown Worcester and is only a short walk away from Reliant's operations in Saint Vincent Hospital. P H O T O / N A T H A N F I S K E

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