Crouse’s New Chief Medical Officer Physician Seth Kronenberg picking up where his dad — former Crouse CEO Paul Kronenberg — left off By Aaron Gifford
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lthough medicine and hospital administrative work go back generations in the Kronenberg family, Seth Kronenberg says his original intent was not to follow someone else’s career path. As a teenager, Seth did well at Fayetteville-Manlius High School and went on to the University of Pennsylvania before completing a medical degree and residencies at Upstate Medical University. He then would practice internal medicine — just like his dad, Paul Kronenberg, an alumnus of both schools who specialized in the same field and worked at the same Syracuse hospital. Paul’s father was also a physician. “It’s more that we have similar personalities than it is trying to follow in his footsteps,” the younger Kronenberg said. “I saw the gratitude of patients, and maybe that inspired me a little. There was no push to go into the same profession. Internal medicine interested me because of the continuity with patients and being able to follow through with chronic issues. He enjoyed that, too. After that, I guess the similarity is that both of us are good at dealing with conflict, difficult personalities and difficult circumstances.” By “after that,” KroKronenberg nenberg is referring to leadership positions. He was recently named Crouse Hospital’s chief medical officer. The senior Kronenberg also had hospital privileges at Crouse and eventually became its chief of medicine medical officer and then chief executive officer, retiring last year to serve as the executive vice president of its board. The elder, who served as Crouse’s CEO for 10 years, is credited with
perform clinical work while also working as Crouse’s chief physician integration officer. “Trying to do a good job at both,” he says, “was pretty difficult. I was really taking on more and more administrative work.” Kronenberg’s new responsibilities include overseeing medical affairs, physician recruitment, delivery system development and many other tasks. He said his main focus is to “unite” the inpatient and outpatient worlds. “Care of the patient should extend beyond the four walls of the hospital.” That can be accomplished through Crouse’s developing integrated health care delivery system, which encourages collaboration among health professionals representing different aspects of the care delivery system, such as providers, long-term care, homecare and rehabilitation. They work as a team to address patient needs, Kronenberg said, “and it’s all physician-governed.”
Goal: Better Care
making the facility financially stable, helping several departments obtain high levels of accreditation, winning the hospital several awards of national recognition and expanding its services. Current CEO Kimberly Boynton was appointed to the top role in January 2014. Seth Kronenberg practiced internal medicine for 15 years and continued to
Making health care more affordable is also among Kronenberg’s goals. He favors a value-based approach where providers and facilities are rewarded for the quality of care as opposed to the number of patients seen. A system of measurements and metrics already exists to help Crouse prioritize quality over quantity. “You need more primary care doctors seeing 15 patients a day instead of 30,” he said. “It also involves delegating responsibility to care managers. You need the help of the entire health
care team.” Crouse leaders have reviewed examples from hospitals in other parts of New York state and in California. “We’re trying to learn from their successes and their failures,” Kronenberg said. “The lesson is — it’s hard work, and it’s hard to achieve.” He said it’s possible for patients to have shorter and fewer hospital stays and the number of expensive tests can be reduced. “There are plenty of opportunities to reduce costs,” Kronenberg said. “Value is the new buzzword — it’s quality divided by cost. You’re really going to be incentivized to do the right thing.” The new medical chief also wants to expand the use of data analysis functions at the hospital to find areas where physicians can utilize resources more efficiently. As for his recruiting role, Kronenberg said Crouse’s culture as an enjoyable, mission-focused place to work is a strong selling point. Departments are managed in such a way that there is plenty of staff to deal with paperwork and other tasks, which allows doctors to fully concentrate on caring for patients, he said. In the months to come, Kronenberg will largely focus on recruiting primary care physicians, neurologists and psychiatrists. When he’s not working, Kronenberg enjoys camping, fishing, sailing, skiing and spending time with his wife, Meredith, and their four daughters. Kronenberg has known Meredith since they were in the fifth grade. Their decision to remain in Central New York and remain close to family and friends was a no-brainer. “We love it here,” he said. “We love the different seasons. There are so many different lakes and rivers. The cost of living is low; the schools are great. You’re still close to Boston, New York City and Philly.” Kronenberg has adjusted well to his non-clinical role at the hospital, though he says the slower turnaround time on completing tasks is a new challenge. “In practicing [medicine], if there was an issue with blood pressure, you adjust the medications, check back with them and then go from there,” he explained. “But with administrative work, you have to learn a little more patience and depend more on your team. Things happen much slower.” So far, Paul Kronenberg has no complaints on how his son is performing in his role as a hospital leader. “He [father] tried not to give advice,” Seth Kronenberg said. “I ask a lot of questions, and he’s a huge resource to me.”
WELCOMING NEW PATIENTS!
Internist Associates OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
Affiliated with Crouse Medical Practice, PLLC
CNY Medical Center 739 Irving Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13210 Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
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s the area’s largest internal medicine practice, we welcome you and your family to our practice of more than 20 highly qualified, board-certified primary care/internal medicine providers — all affiliated with the Crouse Medical Practice care network and conveniently located across from Crouse Hospital.
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IN GOOD HEALTH – CNY’s Healthcare Newspaper • February 2015