Gastroenterologist Dinesh Madhok, MD, was recently appointed CEO of Jacksonville, Fla.-based after nearly three decades with the company.
He joined Becker’s to discuss his long-term priorities, his focus on caring for the whole patient rather than individual procedures, and how his clinical background has shaped his approach to leadership.
Editor’s note: This interview was edited lightly for clarity and length.
Question: What is Borland Groover prioritizing in the next three to five years?
Dr. Dinesh Madhok: Over the last five years, we’ve opened four new surgery centers in Northeast Florida. We have plans to open another one in the Panhandle. We’re growing in this area, trying to maximize access for our patients and maximize quality.
We’re also starting new service lines that we think are really important — chronic care management is one of them. As you know, obesity and fatty liver are such big issues in GI these days. Unfortunately, all of us are getting heavier, and liver disease is increasing. With all the new drugs coming out, we think there’s a big opportunity for us to manage that and take ownership of that disease entity completely, rather than people just going on weight loss drugs on their own.
Another area that’s coming up a lot is the gut microbiome. Almost every day, patients ask about probiotics or microbiome health. I think that’s a big niche that nobody in the medical field is really filling right now. There are some alternative physicians who talk about it, but it hasn’t come on in a big way. There’s a lot of opportunity to learn about it and understand what disease entities are affected. We’re going to focus on these areas, grow our endoscopic footprint, start some new lines of business and keep doing what we’re already doing — but better.
Q: Why is it that GI doesn’t typically expand into the kinds of business lines you described?
DM: I think this might apply to medicine in general. I’m originally from India, so I come with a little different perspective. I did my medical training there and my residency and fellowship here.
The U.S. medical system is, unfortunately or fortunately, very financially oriented. If a particular service doesn’t make a lot of money — if it’s not a big procedure like a hip surgery or a major GI intervention — it tends to be undervalued. Primary care doesn’t do as well as specialties financially.
We really want to focus on the whole patient — on prevention and long-term care. These kinds of conditions don’t generate procedures, so they’re not always advantageous if your only focus is the bottom line. But our group’s focus is more on the whole patient and overall care.
Q: How do you balance the fact that those interests aren’t necessarily financially lucrative with the need to stay sustainable?
DM: Maybe I’m old-school in this way. Being a physician and seeing patients all the time, I think a little differently than someone with an MBA. One thing our founder told us was: Take care of your patient, take care of your employee and everything else will follow. I believe that and try to foster it among our physicians and our C-suite.
Every decision we make has to be in the best interest of the patient first, and then the employee. Employees are our ambassadors. Patients may see us for 10 minutes, but they interact with our staff all the time. If you take care of your employees, they take care of the patients.
Luckily, we have great leadership — several MBAs, a strong CFO, CEO, financial and IT leaders. I tell them my focus, and they make sure what we do is financially feasible. I focus on patient care and quality, and they figure out the numbers. With our size, we’re competitive and able to get better rates from insurers, and that helps.
Q: How has your clinical experience shaped your approach to leadership?
DM: I’ve been here a long time, so I have a lot of institutional knowledge and common sense, even though I don’t have a business degree. We’ve hired well-qualified people to run the business side, but I still think about sustainability and growth every day. Medicare reimbursements go down each year, and negotiating with payers is tough. You have to show that you deliver quality and save them money. We’re always looking for efficiencies — through automation, AI, and cost savings.
Personnel is the biggest expense for any medical practice, so we have to be smart. I’m frugal by nature and want to make sure we’re not wasting money and are negotiating the best deals. But in the end, it comes back to the same thing: take care of your patients and your employees. We have more work than we can handle and a lot of trust from our patients — that’s what matters most.
