Since opening in 2016, Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway has relied on doctors from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to provide certain services. And because UAMS is a taxpayer-support-ed teaching hospital, Conway Regional Health System sees this as unfair competition.

“It turned UAMS from an educator into a competitor,” said Matthew Troup, presi-dent and CEO of the nonprofit Conway Regional, which oper-ates a crosstown hospital with 150 beds. “It tilts the scales to support a business decision that Baptist made.”

The soundness of that busi-ness decision is a matter of opin-ion. While Baptist Health says the Conway facility is success-ful and performing as expected despite continuing operating losses, Troup believes the Little Rock nonprofit erred in building a $150 million, 111-bed hospital in a city that didn’t need it. That, he said, is why it has needed help from UAMS.

The health care industry is

complicated, Troup said, but it always requires two things: doctors and patients. He specu-lates that Baptist Health banked on luring doctors away from Conway Regional, expecting their patients to follow. When that didn’t happen, he said, Baptist Health hired UAMS

It was December when Marcy Doderer first walked the hallways of Arkansas Children’s Northwest without her hard hat on.

Construction on the $167 mil-lion, 233,000-SF hospital in Springdale was complete, and Doderer got her first chance to examine the finished product.

Doderer, the president and CEO of

Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, said the new hospital will open its outpatient clinics on Tuesday, but the inpatient and emergency departments will have to wait until regulatory inspec-tions are finished.

“I have walked the space a number of times,” Doderer said. “Every time I’m up there, I am repeatedly astounded by how

beautiful the design is that we executed upon. The spaces have been designed so we maximize outside light, and it is bright and cheerful.

“I think it really does symbolize dis-covery and delight, so the kids who come through there will find the art and colors

The List [P14]

Distiller Brandon dishes on tax cut

Whispers [P3]

Exec Q&AWith Karen WhatleyTh e director of the State Medical Board wants Arkansans to know that complaints against doctors are taken seriously. [P22]

VOL. 35, NO. 2 JANUARY 8-14, 2018 $1.50UPDATED DAILY: ArkansasBusiness.com

BusinessArkansas

Number of Doctors by County in Arkansas

THE STATE’S BUSINESS NEWS AUTHORITY.

ARKANSAS BUSINESSPUBLISHING GROUP

What the Doctor Ordered Bespoke Health Media says its video-based communication system could revolutionize health care. [P12]

A $650,000 Hit Issues surrounding compensation for home health workers are posing challenges to a Springdale nonprofit. [P17]

By Mark FriedmanMFriedman@ABPG.com

CONWAY CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

UAMS Shakes Up Conway Hospital Rivalry

ACNW CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

View the 2018 Arkansas Business of the Year fi nalists! pg. 2 for detailswww.ArkansasBusiness.com/ABOY

30

SPOTLIGHT:Health Care

BY MARTY COOK | PHOTOGRAPH BY DANIEL MOODY

Children’s Northwest Readies for Debut‘It’s so much more than I ever imagined’

12 January 8, 2018 Arkansas Business

The knee was red and hot to the touch a week after a knee-replacement procedure, and the joint’s worried owner was debating whether to call the doctor’s office.

Instead, he reached for his iPad, touched a link to a secure web portal, typed in a password and reviewed a video his doc-tor had assigned him to watch. The redness and warmth were normal in recovery, the video said, reassuring the patient and saving the doctor an after-hours call and the patient a follow-up visit.

Rick Rogala and Mike Heald of Bespoke Health Media offered that real-life anecdote in pitching a video-based commu-nication system built for health providers and their patients.

Bespoke Health, a subsidiary of Bespoke Media Group LLC of Little Rock, tailors detailed videos for patients facing spe-cific conditions or procedures, using a secure streaming sys-tem that Rogala and Heald see as potentially revolutionary in health care.

“Since we began using Bespoke post-procedural vid-eos in my practice, readmis-sions have decreased and after-hours phone calls have all but stopped,” said Dr. Scott Stern, a Little Rock surgical oncologist and spokesman for the Bespoke program. “The use of video for patient-centered communica-tion is proving to be the most effective and productive way to educate patients.”

Bespoke Health creates the videos in coordination with medical specialty groups, Arkansas clinics like Arkansas Urology, and Dr. Ken Martin, a Little Rock orthopedic surgeon. Patients view the videos through an encrypted link, and doctors get tools to monitor what the patients have watched and to gather patients’ informed-con-sent documents electronically. Patients can watch and rewatch

the videos at any time, on any internet-connected device.

“If you look at medical video of the past, it was often the generic type that you see on a television screen in the doc-tor’s office, discussing in very general terms common condi-tions like diabetes,” said Rogala, Bespoke’s CEO, describing the system from his company’s vast office-and-studio com-plex along the Arkansas River near Cajun’s Wharf. “This is far different content, information about specific conditions and procedures that patients face.”

Rogala developed the video idea after talking with physicians seeking a better way to convey routine information to patients. Donna Mooney, a Ph.D specialist in hardware and software who is Bespoke’s chief technology officer, had the idea for an app. The result was a perfect business marriage, Rogala said.

Rogala says physicians

are impressed with the app, MDSpoke, a proprietary inter-active interface that “exceeds all HIPAA requirements,” a refer-ence to the Health Information Portability & Accountability Act, and uses advanced encryp-tion. Doctors can often see more patients because the videos take over the time-consuming task of conveying rote information to dozens of patients a day. Physicians say their face time with patients becomes more efficient because the videos give baseline knowledge and spur specific questions.

MDSpoke also digitally cap-tures signatures from patients and witnesses on informed-consent documents. This elec-tronic proof that patients have reviewed important infor-mation can be crucial to loss mitigation in dealing with any disputes or litigation that may arise from treatment, experts say. MDspoke also offers tools

to raise office efficiency and reduce that bane of all medical encounters, paperwork.

“MDSpoke follows HIPAA compliance requirements with regard to privacy and security and breach notification stan-dards,” Stern said.

Videos CustomizedAt home or work — or even

through headphones or in a pri-vate cubicle at the doctor’s office — patients can touch a screen and get “top-tier” information about a condition or procedure,

from prostate treatment to joint replacement.

“The proliferation of technol-ogy and the personalization of media has led us to this,” Stern said. “We watch what we want when we want, on the device we want.”

Once Bespoke creates video content for one doctor, about knee replacement, for exam-

ple, “it’s easy to turn around and sell the idea to another physician who performs knee replacements,” Heald said. But the three- to eight-minute vid-eos are also customized and branded for each doctor or practice, “so that each patient’s own doctor is talking” in a lead-in before the common video content begins, Mooney said. “It’s good for patients to see their own doctor, speaking in their own regional dialect. This all makes for better communi-cation, and better health out-comes.”

After the video, another link takes patients to frequently asked questions, and then they encounter a digital consent form to be signed electronically. “This captures an electronic record of use for digital audit and loss mitigation,” Stern said. “And all of this patient interac-tion, including the specific vid-eos a patient watches, are stored for the physician’s use if needed at a later date.”

Medical and malpractice insurance specialists have described the system as a “game-changer,” said Heald, Bespoke’s executive vice presi-dent and chief operating offi-cer. “Doctors can tell if a patient watched only half of the video; then they can insist that the rest be watched.”

But loss mitigation is only a secondary benefit, Rogala said. The main goal is for patients to be better informed, because better communication yields better outcomes. “There’s more information on the internet than there’s ever been, but how does a patient know if what they’re seeing is accurate and helpful?” Rogala asked. “That’s what we work with health professionals to do, to build up this library of

communication that’s accurate, useful and consistent.”

A Growing BusinessRogala said all of Bespoke

Media’s 13 employees contrib-ute to the health care effort, which has become a major business line for Bespoke over the past two years. Rogala, a

Rick Rogala, Donna Mooney and Mike Heald of Bespoke Health Media, at Bespoke’s studio in Little Rock. The company specializes in videos that focus on patients’ specific conditions and procedures. [PHOTO BY KERRY PRICHARD]

SPOTLIGHT: Health Care

App puts patients’ specific health issues at their fingertips

Video Content That’s Just What the Doctor Ordered

By Kyle MasseyKMassey@ABPG.com

“Since we began using Bespoke post-procedural videos in my practice, readmissions have decreased and after-hours phone calls have all but stopped. The use of video for patient-centered communication is proving to be the most effective and productive way to educate patients.”[DR. SCOTT STERN, SURGICAL ONCOLOGIST, SPOKESMAN FOR MDSPOKE]

Arkansas Business January 8, 2018 13

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Pamela Hughes

longtime media professional and former senior vice presi-dent for Nexstar Broadcasting Group, formed BMG in 2012. He partnered with Heald, a former Worthen, Stephens Inc. and One Bank & Trust executive, for his leadership in business and financial acumen, and the firm has specialized in marketing, training and corporate commu-nications messaging ever since.

The privately held company

doesn’t reveal revenue figures, Rogala said, but he indicated business is good, and growing.

The firm uses its own 8,200-SF studio in producing the vid-eos, and often turns to anima-tion specialist Daniel Odom, a graduate of the Savannah College of Art & Design. Rogala and Heald also credit Bespoke Vice Presidents Michael Dunn, the firm’s creative director, and Nate Disarro, chief of video

production. “All of the graphics are done

by us internally, and we build this content specifically, work-ing with the specialists to come up with scripts and visuals,” Rogala said. “And as we build up a library, we can do tweaks and keep all of the videos cur-rent. We work with physicians to know what’s changed, and we monitor specialty guidelines so we can modify the videos as

procedures are updated.”“That animation of the

knee,” Heald said, referring to a segment of the knee-replace-ment video, “you couldn’t find that animation anywhere. We looked, and there was nothing of that quality. And that’s one of the things that doctors like: We’re committed to quality, and we can produce that kind of quality.”

Rogala said efficiency tools are another selling point for MDSpoke, which can provide customized images for patient consultations, return-on-investment reports for clinics’ financial officers and summa-tions of patient survey data. The system helped Stern’s practice improve operational efficiency and the consistency of its mes-saging while cutting read-missions and “enhancing loss mitigation efforts,” the doctor said.

But he points to a differ-ent bottom line. “Patients are better informed” and more satisfied, he said, “and they’re having better outcomes.”

E. Scot Davis, the CEO of Arkansas Urology, concurred: “This revolutionary system will put the patient and their fami-

lies in better communication with their healthcare provider regarding their own individual diagnosis and treatment plan.”

Heald, the COO, said Bespoke is continuing to expand its footprint in patient-centered communication and eventu-ally hopes to produce videos for geriatric care and pharmaceuti-cal companies.

“We want to provide whatev-er is needed by the health care industry,” Rogala said. “The American population contin-ues to age, and that means we’ll need to communicate well with older patients, but also with people who are caring for our elderly. As we look to the future, that’s in the bigger picture.

“Another goal is to figure out a way to communicate about

m e d i c a t i o n s ,” Rogala contin-ued. “This is a whole new side of this that’s excit-ing. Can we give people impor-tant information about the medi-cations they’ve

been prescribed? This techno-logical path could take us into all these areas.” n

Bespoke Health Media’s app,

MDSpoke, fea-tures specialized

videos like this one on knee

replacement, for patients to view on any internet-

connected device. The content can

be branded for doctors, medical

practices or clinics and watched at

any time. [PHOTO

PROVIDED]