July 19, 2025 • 8 mins
This episode recorded live at the Becker’s 22nd Annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC + The Future of Spine Conference features Ira Kornbluth, President, Clearway Pain Solutions. He shares insights on building a successful, scalable practice, embracing technology like ambient dictation, and advancing interventional pain management as a key player in the shift toward outpatient care and opioid stewardship.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
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(00:22):
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forward slash beckerspodcast.
This is Gracelyn Keller with the Becker's Healthcare
Podcast, and we are recording live at the
twenty second annual Spine Orthopedic and Pain Management
Conference.
(00:43):
I'm currently joined by doctor Ira Kornbluth, who
is the president at Clearway Pain Solutions. So
thanks so much for being here. Let's start
off by having you share a little bit
more about yourself, your role, and your organization.
Thank you for the invitation to be here.
It's certainly an honor.
So my career
started,
upon completion of my fellowship in 02/2004.
(01:04):
I, had gone to medical school and did
my residency at Jefferson in Philadelphia
and then started my practice
in a multicenter,
practice in Maryland.
I had developed quite a robust following,
became a partner,
was doing quite well, but then decided to
leave and start my own practice after four
(01:25):
years being there.
I was able to build a practice with
several centers,
hired really
great quality physicians, most who are still with
the practice, open surgery centers,
and then transacted with private equity in 02/2017.
My practice was called SmartPay Management.
We merged with CurePay Management to form CurePay
(01:47):
Management.
Less than two years later, we had a
recap event with our current sponsor, Next Phase
Capital out of New York,
and,
transitioned to become Clearway Pain Solutions. Since that
time, we've continued to scale.
We're now in 10 states, still based out
of Maryland.
We're the biggest pain practice in the country
(02:07):
now.
And beyond being big, I think we're particularly
proud of the fact that we have a
very
tightly operating model,
very financially secure, very financially stable,
and a practice that's very compliant, poised to
scale.
We have great reputation in the marketplace. We're
a place docs wanna work.
(02:29):
We are about halfway through the year now.
We have 70 physicians, not one resignation so
far this year. That's something we're really proud
of. In terms of my role in the
organization
as a founder and president, I have my
hands in most everything.
I'm particularly focused right now on working with,
physicians, mentoring them. I'm in charge of provider
(02:49):
recruitment and hiring.
I'm in charge of de novo development. We're
opening about 25 centers this year, so there's
a lot of work to be done there.
I also oversee compliance,
the special procedure program, and, most of the
ancillary programs at Clearway.
Wonderful. Well, thank you for taking the time
to be here and sharing your expertise.
(03:10):
And let's start with what trends and shifts
you're currently seeing right now in the industry
that you think are most important for leaders
to pay attention to.
Great question. Obviously, there's a lot of buzz
around tech advancements,
specifically
AI, and practices are learning about AI capabilities
and how to enhance efficiencies
(03:31):
in practice.
There's definitely a set of service shift that
we're seeing with procedures moving out of hospitals
into surgery centers.
Surgery centers can provide as good, if not
better quality of care in a less expensive
environment.
There's an enhanced patient experience
and an emphasis on
(03:53):
empowering
customers, consumers of health care.
And with regard to pain management specifically,
we've seen a migration
towards more advanced procedure offerings
with a deemphasis on opioids in pain management
care.
And let's also touch on staffing and workforce
as these challenges continue to be a concern
(04:13):
across health care. So how is your organization
navigating these pressures, and what strategies have you
seen working?
Well, it's all relative. Right? So
staffing challenges were more acute during the early
stages of COVID.
So management teams
are
hardened and better equipped to navigate the challenges
of health care staffing.
(04:35):
Some of the specific challenges around nurse availability
and anesthesia coverage persist,
but are less acute than they were early
on during COVID.
With regards to our organization,
we closely monitor turnover by position
and by region to determine if there are
any worrisome patterns.
We assess our periods periodically
(04:58):
versus market to ensure fairness.
Ultimately, employees wanna be heard and understood. So
we do frequent surveys to undercover
uncover any particular issues that otherwise might not
surface.
And the best approach to us is to
have relatively frequent feedback
with direct reports and touch points
(05:20):
so we can hear their concerns, provide feedback,
and ensure alignment throughout the organization.
We also have a system in place that
rewards
great customer service
and great work effort by our employees
and coworkers can reward employees, not just managers.
So it creates this collaborative environment throughout,
(05:42):
the entire organization.
And as outpatient care continues to grow, how
do you see the role of orthopedics and
ASCs,
evolving within the broader healthcare ecosystem?
Yeah. So this goes back to my earlier
comment about a site of service shift.
Many spine, orthopedic, and pain cases
are being done at the ASC that had
(06:04):
previously been done in the hospital.
And I envision a greater collaboration
amongst ortho pain and neurosurgery,
and that is really gonna merge as a
standard, these centers of excellence with orthopedic spine
and pain management.
And
we have an aging population with baby boomers
aging
(06:25):
and people living longer. There's gonna be
greater need even for high quality orthopedic and
pain management services
and a demand for collaboration
amongst the specialties to provide the best care
for the patient.
And as we kind of wrap up the
conversation,
many organizations are exploring new technologies,
(06:46):
partnerships, or care models to improve efficiency and
outcomes. So I'd love to know if there's
any innovations or initiatives you found particularly promising.
Ambient dictation.
That's really the future.
There's,
a lot of discussion even at this conference
about ambient dictation. I've been to many lectures
where that's been a primary focus and really
(07:08):
has been,
in recent months and and even years. And
doctors are seeming to embrace this new new
approach.
It is lessening their administrative
burden.
It's enhancing their efficiency.
It's enhancing their productivity.
Many doctors are able to see a few
more patients per day, and that few additional
patients per day,
(07:30):
really
increases their morale.
And not having to stay after work for
hours to finish charts,
is, very appealing to physicians.
There's also
the potential for major back office efficiencies
through technological advancements,
that's starting to play out and should be
accelerating,
(07:50):
in the coming months and years.
And is there anything else you'd like to
share that we didn't touch on today?
Just that we see pain management
as a valuable resource
within the health care system.
We have positioned ourselves as part of the
solution to the opioid problem
and not a contributor to the problem.
(08:13):
Our focus,
as
primarily interventional
pain management versus chronic pain management,
having the tools to make sure that
if, controlled substances are provided, that they're being
closely monitored and managed,
and,
curtailed
is,
you know, very important within the health care
(08:34):
ecosystem.
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for taking
the time to join me today on the
Becker's Health Care Podcast. Again, we are live
at the twenty second annual Spine Orthopedic and
Pain Management Conference.
Thank you for the ability to come on
here and speak to you today.
Looking for a solution that helps alleviate administrative
tasks for your staff and also helps your
patients cover their out of pocket health care
expenses?
Find what you're looking for from CareCredit because
CareCredit is a credit card and more. It's
a helping hand for staff and a flexible
payment solution for patients. For over thirty years,
CareCredit, a Synchrony solution, has offered patients a
(00:22):
credit card with promotional financing options to get
the care they want while helping staff do
what they do best, provide care. To learn
more, visit carecredit.com
forward slash beckerspodcast.
This is Gracelyn Keller with the Becker's Healthcare
Podcast, and we are recording live at the
twenty second annual Spine Orthopedic and Pain Management
Conference.
(00:43):
I'm currently joined by doctor Ira Kornbluth, who
is the president at Clearway Pain Solutions. So
thanks so much for being here. Let's start
off by having you share a little bit
more about yourself, your role, and your organization.
Thank you for the invitation to be here.
It's certainly an honor.
So my career
started,
upon completion of my fellowship in 02/2004.
(01:04):
I, had gone to medical school and did
my residency at Jefferson in Philadelphia
and then started my practice
in a multicenter,
practice in Maryland.
I had developed quite a robust following,
became a partner,
was doing quite well, but then decided to
leave and start my own practice after four
(01:25):
years being there.
I was able to build a practice with
several centers,
hired really
great quality physicians, most who are still with
the practice, open surgery centers,
and then transacted with private equity in 02/2017.
My practice was called SmartPay Management.
We merged with CurePay Management to form CurePay
(01:47):
Management.
Less than two years later, we had a
recap event with our current sponsor, Next Phase
Capital out of New York,
and,
transitioned to become Clearway Pain Solutions. Since that
time, we've continued to scale.
We're now in 10 states, still based out
of Maryland.
We're the biggest pain practice in the country
(02:07):
now.
And beyond being big, I think we're particularly
proud of the fact that we have a
very
tightly operating model,
very financially secure, very financially stable,
and a practice that's very compliant, poised to
scale.
We have great reputation in the marketplace. We're
a place docs wanna work.
(02:29):
We are about halfway through the year now.
We have 70 physicians, not one resignation so
far this year. That's something we're really proud
of. In terms of my role in the
organization
as a founder and president, I have my
hands in most everything.
I'm particularly focused right now on working with,
physicians, mentoring them. I'm in charge of provider
(02:49):
recruitment and hiring.
I'm in charge of de novo development. We're
opening about 25 centers this year, so there's
a lot of work to be done there.
I also oversee compliance,
the special procedure program, and, most of the
ancillary programs at Clearway.
Wonderful. Well, thank you for taking the time
to be here and sharing your expertise.
(03:10):
And let's start with what trends and shifts
you're currently seeing right now in the industry
that you think are most important for leaders
to pay attention to.
Great question. Obviously, there's a lot of buzz
around tech advancements,
specifically
AI, and practices are learning about AI capabilities
and how to enhance efficiencies
(03:31):
in practice.
There's definitely a set of service shift that
we're seeing with procedures moving out of hospitals
into surgery centers.
Surgery centers can provide as good, if not
better quality of care in a less expensive
environment.
There's an enhanced patient experience
and an emphasis on
(03:53):
empowering
customers, consumers of health care.
And with regard to pain management specifically,
we've seen a migration
towards more advanced procedure offerings
with a deemphasis on opioids in pain management
care.
And let's also touch on staffing and workforce
as these challenges continue to be a concern
(04:13):
across health care. So how is your organization
navigating these pressures, and what strategies have you
seen working?
Well, it's all relative. Right? So
staffing challenges were more acute during the early
stages of COVID.
So management teams
are
hardened and better equipped to navigate the challenges
of health care staffing.
(04:35):
Some of the specific challenges around nurse availability
and anesthesia coverage persist,
but are less acute than they were early
on during COVID.
With regards to our organization,
we closely monitor turnover by position
and by region to determine if there are
any worrisome patterns.
We assess our periods periodically
(04:58):
versus market to ensure fairness.
Ultimately, employees wanna be heard and understood. So
we do frequent surveys to undercover
uncover any particular issues that otherwise might not
surface.
And the best approach to us is to
have relatively frequent feedback
with direct reports and touch points
(05:20):
so we can hear their concerns, provide feedback,
and ensure alignment throughout the organization.
We also have a system in place that
rewards
great customer service
and great work effort by our employees
and coworkers can reward employees, not just managers.
So it creates this collaborative environment throughout,
(05:42):
the entire organization.
And as outpatient care continues to grow, how
do you see the role of orthopedics and
ASCs,
evolving within the broader healthcare ecosystem?
Yeah. So this goes back to my earlier
comment about a site of service shift.
Many spine, orthopedic, and pain cases
are being done at the ASC that had
(06:04):
previously been done in the hospital.
And I envision a greater collaboration
amongst ortho pain and neurosurgery,
and that is really gonna merge as a
standard, these centers of excellence with orthopedic spine
and pain management.
And
we have an aging population with baby boomers
aging
(06:25):
and people living longer. There's gonna be
greater need even for high quality orthopedic and
pain management services
and a demand for collaboration
amongst the specialties to provide the best care
for the patient.
And as we kind of wrap up the
conversation,
many organizations are exploring new technologies,
(06:46):
partnerships, or care models to improve efficiency and
outcomes. So I'd love to know if there's
any innovations or initiatives you found particularly promising.
Ambient dictation.
That's really the future.
There's,
a lot of discussion even at this conference
about ambient dictation. I've been to many lectures
where that's been a primary focus and really
(07:08):
has been,
in recent months and and even years. And
doctors are seeming to embrace this new new
approach.
It is lessening their administrative
burden.
It's enhancing their efficiency.
It's enhancing their productivity.
Many doctors are able to see a few
more patients per day, and that few additional
patients per day,
(07:30):
really
increases their morale.
And not having to stay after work for
hours to finish charts,
is, very appealing to physicians.
There's also
the potential for major back office efficiencies
through technological advancements,
that's starting to play out and should be
accelerating,
(07:50):
in the coming months and years.
And is there anything else you'd like to
share that we didn't touch on today?
Just that we see pain management
as a valuable resource
within the health care system.
We have positioned ourselves as part of the
solution to the opioid problem
and not a contributor to the problem.
(08:13):
Our focus,
as
primarily interventional
pain management versus chronic pain management,
having the tools to make sure that
if, controlled substances are provided, that they're being
closely monitored and managed,
and,
curtailed
is,
you know, very important within the health care
(08:34):
ecosystem.
Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for taking
the time to join me today on the
Becker's Health Care Podcast. Again, we are live
at the twenty second annual Spine Orthopedic and
Pain Management Conference.
Thank you for the ability to come on
here and speak to you today.
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