TriasMD and Chicago Pacific Founders Create Strategic Growth Partnership to Expand DISC Sports & Spine Center Model

Former UnitedHealth Group veteran James H. Becker will facilitate DISC’s expansion as TriasMD CEO, working closely with founding director, Dr. Robert S. Bray, Jr.

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Jan. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — TriasMD, a musculoskeletal management company, and Chicago Pacific Founders (“CPF”), an investment advisor that manages private strategic healthcare investment funds, have entered into a partnership that will expand on the innovative outpatient model behind DISC Sports & Spine Center (“DISC”), a premier provider of minimally invasive spine care. As a result of the recently signed deal, TriasMD becomes the parent company to DISC’s ambulatory surgery center, DISC Surgery Center at Newport Beach, and will serve as the expansion vehicle.

DISC was launched in 2006 by Dr. Robert S. Bray, Jr., the renowned neurological spine surgeon who founded Cedars-Sinai’s Institute for Spinal Disorders and built it into one of the largest spine programs in the country. Recognizing that spinal procedures often required lengthy hospital stays, Dr. Bray set out to develop the techniques, tools and protocols to make minimally invasive, outpatient spine surgery – from simple to high-acuity cases – a reality. Since then, DISC has become a true leader in its field by using a data-backed approach that improves quality, increases cost efficiency and betters patient outcomes.

“We’ve been building this model for more than 15 years – carefully defining the value of outpatient spine while developing a thorough understanding of what it takes to migrate care into ASCs,” said Dr. Bray. “We’re both humbled and excited that CPF sees the significance of our model and its potential to set a gold standard for the future.”

Added Vance Vanier, M.D., co-founder/managing partner of CPF: “In creating this growth partnership with TriasMD, we knew we were tapping the right opportunity in musculoskeletal care for a model that transforms the industry in terms of efficiency and cost optimization while delivering superior patient outcomes. We look forward to working with DISC to expand their services and bring their patient-centric care model to new geographies.”

The new strategic growth partnership between TriasMD and CPF will seek to expand this data and evidence-driven model for migrating spine surgery into the outpatient setting, launching new facilities and incorporating the full range of musculoskeletal care while maintaining DISC’s superior quality and 98% patient NPS to scale. TriasMD will also work with payors on creative billing strategies that help further optimize the site-of-service for care delivery while enhancing member experience and satisfaction.

To facilitate this growth, TriasMD has brought on James H. Becker as CEO. Becker, who will work closely with Dr. Bray, spent the last 15+ years as a senior executive for UnitedHealth Group ( NYSE: UNH), a Fortune 6 organization where he served as Chief Operating Officer, UnitedHealthcare Medicare and Retirement and, most recently, President of Optum Global Operations.

“Having come from the payor side, I’m excited to align incentives across healthcare to deliver a better-quality experience at a lower cost with an efficiency that benefits the patient, provider and payor alike,” said Becker. “With Dr. Bray’s vision and CPF’s capital and strategic support, this is just the role and partnership to make that happen.”