Ferdinand Formoso, President, Duval County Medical Society

Invest: sat down with Ferdinand Formoso, president of the Duval County Medical Society, to discuss how the rapid evolution of healthcare has impacted physician practice, and how his organization provides key support. “The DCMS is all about fellowship and the opportunity to share,” he said. 

What have been your key takeaways from the past year?

We’ve been looking introspectively at the value we bring to physicians in the community. One of the biggest ongoing projects is growing our membership. We have 50% market saturation, meaning half of physicians in the market are members of our society, which is a high membership rate for this type of healthcare organization. We are looking at the type of events and incentives we can put together to bring physicians together and grow our membership even more. The DCMS is all about fellowship and the opportunity to share what is going on, and we are keen to improve that experience, and ultimately the ability of physicians to practice. 

We also look out for the wellness of our members. The Life Bridge program is something we offer physicians who are experiencing burn out and are seeking mental health support. We want our doctors to be the best that they can be and with these efforts we’ve made, we’ve been able to maintain a stable membership. I’ve been going out more into the community to articulate our mission to leaders because we’ve been around since 1853, meaning we must be doing something right.

How does Duval County Medical Society stand out in the healthcare landscape?

The healthcare environment is evolving quite a bit. The switch from private practice to hospital systems has been staggering. Historically, 80% to 90% of physicians from previous generations owned their own practice, but now that has completely flipped. Physicians are working for major systems, and it creates some separation. The DCMS is a way for all these physicians working in different environments to come together and advocate for the core principles of healthcare, which is caring for patients. When physicians are employed by large groups that aren’t doctor-run, they can often get caught up in the business. They just become a cog in a wheel and a means to create a product, which is how a lot of healthcare has evolved in recent years.

There are some great nonprofit systems, for sure, but a lot of large conglomerates are owned by private capital, and some are publicly traded companies. In the for-profit model, you have to make sure the shareholders are happy, while fighting the headwinds presented by insurance companies. It’s become quite a challenge to practice in this environment, whereas a generation ago it was never an issue. It’s led to an increase in burnout and the overall decline of healthcare, and it’s something I hear from patients all the time.  

How is technology impacting the healthcare environment?

Technology is a two-sided issue. Generally, I’m happy that things in healthcare have become more technology oriented. This is especially so with electronic medical records, which have proliferated over the past decade. We use an iPad-based health record, and it’s made life a lot more user-friendly for physicians. It creates a smoother interface and has been a game changer. Data transfer is much easier and clearer, so patients no longer need to rely on handwritten notes and prescription scripts that often go back and forth.

We’re still in the early phases of bringing technology into practice. So much can happen with integrated models, and I dream of a day where we have a common cloud where we can share protected medical information to serve patients more universally. There’s a real opportunity from a sharing perspective that could be a game changer for doctors and patients.

What is your assessment of the healthcare market today?

The Jacksonville market is growing as more people move in every day, and that means more demand. In terms of the cost to provide care, from a business perspective it’s becoming nearly impossible to make it in the private sector when you look at economic impacts like inflation. Medical practices are hit even harder than is often reported in the news. The costs of necessary medical equipment such as needles and syringes have skyrocketed over the past few years. When you couple that with the cost of labor, which has also increased, it is especially sensitive for the private sector because the margins are so thin. With labor costs, those impacts are starting at the entry level positions, where compensation has also drastically increased over the past few years. For small practices, that can be especially challenging as major healthcare organizations grow, making it harder overall to navigate this evolving landscape.

What will you be prioritizing over the next few years?

As a physician, it’s important to work with other private practices because we’re all trying to keep our overheads low. In my practice, we’ve opted to perform procedures in the office as opposed to a surgery center, which is far more cost-effective. Private physicians are under increasing pressure from the insurance industry to keep their cost per patient low, and if they refer patients out for care, it raises that cost of care. Larger corporate healthcare systems are likewise partnering with community physicians to facilitate their costs. From a DCMS perspective, we’re partnering more with healthcare systems to show the value of membership by advocating and making sure communications are easier and that ultimately makes things better for the patient.