In October 2024, Justin Rhodes was promoted to CEO of Baptist Medical Group and vice president of Baptist Connected Care following the retirement of Dr. Mark Swanson. We recently talked with Justin to learn more about his plans.
How are you settling into your new role?
It has been a pleasure to rejoin Baptist Medical Group and be reacquainted with physicians, leaders and team members whom I admire, trust and respect. It has also been a joy to meet and get to know many new physicians, leaders and team members across Baptist Medical Group and hear fresh ideas and opportunities for improvement.
On a daily basis, I am learning of new and innovative work taking place both within Baptist Medical Group and in collaboration with hospital leaders, and I am excited and thankful to work with such a talented team.
What are your goals for Baptist Medical Group?
As we move into 2025, I look forward to continuing our work with a focus on three primary areas: medical group systemness, reimagined primary care and value-based care.
Medical group systemness can take on multiple meanings and definitions, but for our discussion I think we can focus on two primary areas. The first amplifies Baptist Medical Group’s role within the Baptist ecosystem of care through enhancements in patient navigation, care coordination and new care delivery models that improve and optimize patient care in both pre- and post-acute care settings. The second is a cultural and operational shift to a true integrated medical group and “One BMG” across all regions.
Baptist Medical Group will focus on reimagining primary care by improving both the support and reach of our primary care services across the Baptist footprint. Frictionless access to care, enhancements in patient care services and developing new team-based care models will all be areas of emphasis. Market share, leading in patient choice and dominance in primary care will be core elements to the Baptist Medical Group value generation as we move forward.
Value-based health care is the framework that supports and incentivizes health care providers to focus on the quality and efficiency of services rendered. Baptist Medical Group is launching a new Accountable Care Organization, also known as an ACO, in 2025 that will serve as Baptist’s platform to manage and operate in value-based care arrangements.
We will be investing in and enhancing Baptist Medical Group’s competencies and capabilities to deliver care outcomes aligned with value-based care metrics. Our goal is to demonstrate quality performance and prepare Baptist Medical Group for further shifts in risk and alternative payment models as more payor programs move in this direction. By preparing now, we will set our team up for success for many years to come.
What are some of the challenges Baptist Medical Group faces?
I would consider one of Baptist Medical Group’s strengths as perhaps one of our greatest challenges. Baptist Medical Group is the Mid-South’s largest multispecialty medical group composed of more than 1,200 providers and over 42 specialties, located across more than 200 practice sites. Baptist Medical Group’s size and scale allow us to care for hundreds of thousands of patients across a multistate region and have the advanced support of scheduling and referral centers to manage transitions in care, virtual care and a unified medical record system. We also have teams organized around care outreach between provider visits.
Despite its strengths, our size also creates a challenge in communicating and supporting change management for some of the initiatives previously mentioned. Across the footprint, there are commonalities and operating systems that make us Baptist Medical Group, but each region has its own personality. We are challenged in creating a system that allows for personalization. I believe in systemness, but we will also work to ensure flexibility to meet the unique needs of the communities we serve.
How has your previous work with Baptist prepared you for this new role?
In many ways, it feels like a homecoming! I began my work at Baptist in 2011 as director of clinic operations, and for nearly 10 years worked in progressive roles of responsibility within Baptist Medical Group, ultimately serving as CEO of the Baptist Medical Group Central Mississippi market. I began my role with Baptist Connected Care, a connected health platform across the entire continuum of care, when it was formed in 2020. Now, I am elated to rejoin Baptist Medical Group and continue my work with Baptist Connected Care.
With Baptist Connected Care, I’ve had the opportunity to lead numerous initiatives focused on defined patient and employee populations, including tailoring direct to employer services and solutions for many of the largest employers across our region, developing a “clinic of the future” through a newly formed joint venture with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi to serve as an Innovation Center for Care Delivery Redesign, and transforming how Baptist interacts and partners with post-acute providers to offer patients the highest quality of care via streamlined transitions workflow.
Baptist Connected Care has helped me understand what employers and payors are interested in and how they assess value and measure success. While we will always keep patients at the center of our work, understanding the perspectives of health care stakeholders will serve us well to stay ahead of shifts in the health care marketplace.
Is there anything you’d like to add?
Baptist Medical Group has a legacy of exceptional clinical care and is vital to the success of Baptist today and in the future. We’re focused on delivering high-value care by redesigning care delivery through innovative, fun and highly differentiated solutions while empowering all people and teams to do the best work of their lives.
I am excited to work with our team to grow our reach in the communities we serve. We are preparing new programs and systems to unleash value for the work that we perform. I am especially looking forward to collaborating on new team-based care models that will improve access to care, allow for enhancements in health improvement programs and ignite joy in the workplace. We are having fun!
