FirstMerit Legacy Award
Thomas J. Ferkovic, managing director, SS&G Healthcare Services LLC
The world of health care is changing dramatically, and Thomas J. Ferkovic is proud that SS&G Healthcare Services LLC is helping its customers effectively manage through the transformation.
“Due to changes in health care, particularly with reimbursements, physician practices and hospitals are more and more looking for professional management,” says Ferkovic, the company’s managing director. “As we grow, our team is better positioned to share our expertise and help our clients succeed.”
SS&G Healthcare has been one of the leading growth companies in Northeast Ohio for a number of years. The enduring success has allowed the company to expand its operations throughout the East Coast to better serve and meet the increasing demands of those physician groups and hospitals around the country.
The company provides a customized mix of practice management and operational and financial consulting services to meet the complex, changing needs of clients in the health care industry. These services include revenue and expense management as well as strategic, operational and financial planning. It is all built on a strong foundation through its affiliation with SS&G Inc., a full-service certified public accounting, tax and business advisory firm.
SS&G Healthcare has more than 100 employees who provide compliance plan development, strategic planning, physician compensation consulting, contract negotiations and accounts receivable management.
Employees make a strong effort to stay updated on new industry developments as well as advancements in procedures and methods.
The organization is led by Ferkovic, who entered into a joint venture with SS&G to form SS&G Healthcare in 1999. At that time, the focus was on outsourced practice management services for small to midsized physician groups. But Ferkovic recognized the potential for additional opportunities.
Ferkovic earned his bachelor of science degree in pharmacy from the University of Toledo and a master’s degree in information science from Case Western Reserve University. He is also a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association.
He is a big believer in the power of analytics and the importance of knowing where you are and where you want to go.
“Every physician wants to grow his or her practice, but you can’t do that until you know exactly where you are and until you’re measuring key indicators for the health of the current practice,” Ferkovic said in a recent article published in Physician’s Money Digest. “A lot of physicians see how healthy they are by looking in their checkbook, but you have to do more than that.”
The efforts to help their clients grow and succeed have not gone unnoticed.
“The members of the SS&G Healthcare team felt like partners and family,” says Kenyokee Crowell, administrator of regional practices for the Cleveland Clinic Health System. “Long after the management contract has ended, the relationships with the many people who assisted us are strong.”
The result of all this success is a consistent place on the honor roll for the Cascade Capital Business Growth Awards. SS&G Healthcare is now a seven-time winner. The company has grown from 97 employees in 2008, when the global recession took hold, to 112 employees in 2012. Since 2008, sales have grown by 62 percent.
Ferkovic and his team understand that they will need to continue studying ways to get better and be more effective in the service they provide to customers if that growth is to continue. ●
How to reach: SS&G Healthcare Services LLC,
(330) 670-5316 or www.ssandghc.com
