Healthcare organizations are chasing direct-to-employer contracts. The pitch is compelling: transparent pricing, no authorization headaches, high-value surgical cases. But for most orthopedic practices, the direct employer relationship remains aspirational.

Workers' comp can be a high-margin, high-volume business. The challenge, as we discussed, is that it's often buried in administrative sludge that kills efficiency and frustrates your team.

We sat down with Wayne Fraleigh, CEO of the Orthopaedic & Spine Center of the Rockies (OCR), to discuss how his group is navigating two very different worlds. They manage a captive market in Northern Colorado alongside a hyper-competitive market in North Denver