• Overview
• Benefits of Pegasus
• Our Leadership Team
• Our Medical Directors
• Business Model
• Management Services
• Case Studies
• Confidential Evaluation of Your ED
• Message From the CEO

Message from Pegasus CMO Dr. Neil Schamban

In 2007, I served as Vice Chair of Emergency Medicine at a major academic facility in New Jersey. It was a preeminent position that many, including myself at that time, considered to be the apex of a successful career.

Why did I leave the prestige and security of this job to join Pegasus?

As my operational responsibilities increased, so had my commitment to delivering the highest quality of Emergency Medicine, and to sharing the financial benefits achieved with the physicians responsible for to its accomplishment. Why was it consistently so challenging to persuade hospitals to execute more effective processes that improve care, and so difficult to motivate physicians to participate actively in their implementation?

Why do we have to struggle again and again to persuade hospitals that the provision of technicians and point-of-care testing in a fast track leads to better outcomes for patients and more intelligent utilization of resources? Immediate bedding from triage? Rapid bed placement after decision to admit? Pain management protocols? EMR implementation? ED Directors and physicians exhaust themselves struggling to accomplish goals that are obviously beneficial. And when they finally achieve them, shouldn’t they receive a financial reward when there is an upside? So by 2007, my seemingly successful career had become quite frustrating.

I wanted to work with a company that had an objective record of consistently accomplishing these core values in Emergency Medicine, as opposed to working as an employee of a large hospital or mega physician group, where the tenacity and integrity to achieve these values waned with the ebb of leadership changes. I realized that it requires a true ownership model to consistently achieve outcomes where quality of care and financial success are unified goals.

In 2007, Elliot Justin MD, CEO of Pegasus, approached me with the opportunity to run the Emergency Department in Cullman, Alabama. I had never heard of Cullman and, initially, had a typical and ironically parochial Northerner’s reaction to the Deep South. (I love it here!) Why would the Division Chair of one of the busiest emergency departments in New Jersey move to Cullman, Alabama, to run a medium-sized rural ED? It was the opportunity to be a direct owner in the local LLC and effectively implement validated strategies to improve patient care. With the warm and diligent collaboration from Cullman’s administration, Jim Weidner, CEO, and Cheryl Bailey, CNO, Pegasus accomplished what others before had signally failed to achieve for decades.

We recruited a full-time team of dedicated Emergency Medicine physicians. The census increased from 29,000 visits/year to over 45,000 visits/year in less than 3 years. Patient satisfaction made a 180-degree turn around, we eliminated walkouts and we have an average door-to-doc time of less than 20 minutes. To the satisfaction of the hospital, our success eliminated the need for a subsidy.

Pegasus has consistently delivered similar outcomes in Emergency Departments in Alabama, Wyoming, Missouri, New Jersey and New York. In 2011-12, we will be starting contracts in New Mexico, Texas and Georgia. Our Medical Directors are all board certified and residency trained in Emergency Medicine. Our staff physicians are all committed to the full time, high quality practice of Emergency Medicine. We recognize that there are physicians who have primary boards in either Family Practice or Internal Medicine who have excellent clinical skills and knowledge in Emergency Medicine. Pegasus works with physicians who are dedicated to practicing emergency medicine at the highest standards and improvement of the specialty.

Board Certified, Residency Trained Medical Directors:
Site	Pre-Pegasus	Pegasus
Cullman, AL	No	Yes
Troy RMC	No	Yes
Coosa Valley RMC	No	Yes
Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County	No	Yes
Auburn Memorial Hospital and UCC’s	Yes	Yes
Moberly RMC	No	Yes
Seton Health/St. Mary’s Hospital	No	Yes
Hunterdon Medical Center	No	Yes
Gadsden RMC	No	Yes
Meadowlands	No	Yes
Baptist Health System (4 hospitals)	No	Yes

Pegasus transforms underperforming Emergency Departments into efficient centers of patient care. We employ a proven operational model that can be replicated by our attentive physician owners. Our model aligns quality and financial success. Pegasus physicians are no longer shift workers; they own a portion of the contract where they work as opposed to a tiny fraction of a much larger mega group.

Pegasus did not invent this holistic approach; certainly, many of our colleagues around the country have achieved it locally. But, we are consistent and tenacious in accomplishing these goals at all of our Emergency Departments.

Pegasus sets goals, tracks and publishes data publicly as well as providing individual score cards for all providers. Data review and reporting is a core value and it drives operational success. Pegasus believes in the “golden rule” as the core value of patient care. This means we strive to treat our patients and colleagues the way we want to be treated, with integrity, dedication and honor.

Since 2007, many physicians have made the decision that I made and left problematic academic and corporate EM jobs and joined Pegasus. If improving the quality of care in an ED, practicing superior medicine and becoming a financial owner of your success appeals to you, join us!

Case Studies

Benefits of Pegasus