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Bone, Joint Center MUSC’s new Bone and Joint Center in West Ashley is a new solution to an old problem: How do we best match our patients’ expectations to our clinical service? The Bone and Joint Center opened on a limited basis in December.  It grew from an idea presented almost two years ago by Angus McBryde, M.D., chairman of Orthopaedics. He reasoned that since many specialties must converge to deal with bone and joint problems, patients would benefit from close collaboration among those providers. So the center, which is expected to be in full operation by May, combines orthopaedics, rheumatology, pain management, alternative medicine, sports medicine, occupational and physical therapy, and X-ray in one convenient location.  The result is a group of highly-trained, highly-specialized physicians and other providers who understand the limits of their varied disciplines and the strengths of other allied approaches. “MUSC is a large organization with many strengths. But in growing so large, we run the risk of forgetting who we work with and who we work for,”  said Joanne Conroy, M.D.  Conroy, MUSC’s executive medical director, likes “...new enterprises that bring departments out of their traditional roles and into innovative patient care models. “Just having the best doctors and nurses is not enough any more,“ Conroy said.  “We need to provide ease of access and the amenities patients expect when they see a physician. The West Ashley office has that ease of access, plus parking is convenient, referrals are not necessary, and patients are followed from triage through evaluation, care, and outcome. “Say there’s a patient complaining about foot pain,” Conroy said, by way of example. “With the services at the center, that patient can be triaged to an appropriate physician for assessment, sent to X-ray for evaluation, and referred to rheumatology or alternative medicine for long-term care—potentially all in the same day. This ‘curbside’ communication keeps people from constantly circulating in and out of clinics without any continuity of care. And it avoids unnecessary patient visits.” From the MUSC point of view, the Bone and Joint Center is a more efficient way of doing business. With a streamlined patient flow, there is a more predictable patient population. And students and residents have a realistic practice model from which to learn more than just medicine and the team approach to patient care. They learn how a medical practice is organized, financed, and run. The center is operated under agreement with Carolina Family Care, which has internal medicine and pediatrics practices on the second floor. It is located just off Glenn McConnell Parkway, across from the new Channel 5 TV studio, at 2125 Charlie Hall Blvd. Visitors and patients are welcome.