40 Years of Strength and Stability

This week ApolloMD leaders from across the nation will gather to celebrate forty years, reflect on past achievements, and share personal stories and insights that will build upon a stronger future. Across the three-day 2023 Leadership Conference, colleagues enjoy a packed agenda featuring a variety of workshops, training modules, and networking events designed to educate team members on best practices, empowering them to continue to foster the healthiest of communities. The Conference is an opportunity for all leaders to recharge, reconnect, and refocus as they commit to providing the highest quality health care possible.

Forty years ago, in 1983, a group of visionary physicians decided to shift the paradigm for physician practice management and answer a call they heard from within their professional community. These doctors recognized the need for a different approach, one that challenged the existing models and put the business of medicine into the well-scrubbed hands of the medical professionals themselves.

From its inception, the ApolloMD team has embraced a shared mission to revolutionize health care delivery through the expertise and dedication of its physician owners, APCs, and employees. By reconfiguring the basic framework of medical practice, the traditional format of practice management was transformed into a unique, innovative ownership structure built by physicians for physicians. ApolloMD immediately set itself apart, focusing on physician-based ownership and management.

Christopher Krubert, MD, assumed the role of CEO of ApolloMD from late 2006 to early 2013 during a period of significant growth as the company became a leading multi-specialty physician services firm while remaining steadfast in the core values of the founding mission.

“When I took over as CEO, we were still a small company and we had to build infrastructure piece by piece,” Dr. Krubert recalls. “We built the operations team, built the satellite offices, improved revenue cycle and finance … It was great. It was the right time for the industry, too. We didn’t have the old school practice management mentality; we were run by doctors…  like player/managers.”

Flipping the script, they developed a corporate culture that allowed patient bedside matters to inform the boardroom agenda and that resonated with top recruits.

By prioritizing high-quality care and fiscal responsibility, ApolloMD consistently attracted top-tier clinical talent and expanded service offerings while also ensuring financial sustainability and avoiding debt-fueled growth. Through efficient resource allocation and strategic decision-making, the company built a reputation for its conservative approach to financial management.

For Mike Dolister, MD, CPE, FACEP that reputation mattered once he recognized the significant difference in ApolloMD when his original practice set out to secure new management.

“ApolloMD was just a very pro-physician group, very different from the rest,” Dr. Dolister says.

Within a few years, Dr. Dolister became COO of ApolloMD starting on a path that would tap him as Chief Medical Officer, then President of Emergency Services, then President, and into his current role as CEO. Dr. Dolister humbly admits, “I never really pictured myself [in leadership] … I think to myself that I never would have taken this position in another company, [but] I’ve always appreciated the fact that everything we did supported the direct care of patients.”

Under Dr. Dolister’s guidance, ApolloMD grew ApolloMD, prioritizing the investment in highly qualified, highly dedicated clinicians. Building a team that is passionate about creating healthier communities and prioritizing personal and professional development.

“I really look to the leadership within the physician executive team,” he notes. “[We’re] empowered to lead at a higher level and through a broader structure where people are working at the top of their abilities, using their gifts and their talents. The thing about our company is that we optimally support the clinicians who provide our patient care. That’s what works.”

With a focus on patient-centered care and a commitment to innovation, ApolloMD expanded its presence across the United States, becoming a trusted partner for various hospitals, health systems, and medical facilities. The company has continued to prioritize the highest standards of medical care while leveraging advanced technologies and staying at the forefront of industry developments.

Chief Operating Officer Amy Katnik knew the ApolloMD name for several years, respecting ApolloMD’s exceptional clinical outcomes and operational excellence. When she joined the operations team in 2009, her talents for management and organization immediately proved indispensable as she focused on a systematic method for framing infrastructure.

“That first year, I saw that we had to build a little bit more of a structure and have a person responsible for each hospital,” reflects Katnik. “Slowly but surely it all developed. There was incredible growth, and we were able to manage it [because] we’d put the mechanisms in…a real part of our story is that we’ve grown only organically and with a solid ownership structure. It’s phenomenal.”

“The positive impacts of ownership are immediate, and every owner is actively participating and contributing to our success,” explains Evan Howell, MBA, M.M.Sc., PA-C, Chief Clinical Operations Officer, and Chief Advanced Practice Clinician. He views creativity and adaptation as part of the standard operating procedure positioning the company to overcome obstacles. That unflinching commitment to continuous improvement enables ApolloMD to successfully navigate the myriad of challenges faced in the health care industry over the last 40 years.

“We have worked hard to create an entrepreneurial culture and instill a growth mindset in all our clinicians and employees which encourages flexibility and outside-the-box thinking,” he observes. “We truly believe our most valuable resource is our people, and that healthy patients and healthy communities start with healthy clinicians.”

Today, as an employee and provider-owned organization, ApolloMD remains deeply rooted in its founding principles. Its unique ownership structure ensures that the voices and perspectives of those on the front lines of health care serve as primary inspiration for shaping the company’s future. By fostering a culture of collaboration and empowerment, ApolloMD continues to transform health care and improve the lives of all patients and communities served.