FLASHBACK
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Melbourne Internal Medicine Associates got its start in 1969 with four doctors. Today, the phenomenal growth of the practice is evident as construction continues on the 200,000-square-foot Gateway Boulevard building that eventually will house most MIMA doctors.
When Dr. Martin Isenman joined Melbourne Internal Medicine Associates (MIMA) n 1976, he remembers wanting to meet with patients in his office before the examination.
At the time, the growing practice was housed in facilities Isenman describes as dreadfully overcrowded while a new building was being planned.
Still, he took the patient to the office he shared with two other doctors. Both were on separate phone calls to the hospital, and a transcriptionist was in the corner, typing away.
The patient was in her 80s and was hard of hearing. “She couldn’t hear a word I said. That was the first and last patient I took to my consultation room in that facility,” Isenman said.
Doctors in the practice rotated shifts between the office and hospital so they could share access to MIMA exam rooms, housed in two buildings on Oak and Hickory streets. When work on the Sheridan Road building near Holmes Regional Medical Center was complete in 1978, “I thought I’d died and gone to heaven,” he said.
Responsible for Community Health
Today, the phenomenal growth of the practice is evident as construction continues on the 200,000-square-foot Gateway Boulevard building that eventually will house most MIMA doctors. MIMA’s Cancer services will occupy the practice’s South Hickory Street location.
The consolidation will make the practice more efficient, said Dr. Joseph McClure, a hematologist/oncologist who also serves as CEO of the practice. Patients will be able to see their doctor, have lab work and get diagnostic testing done in the same facility. Doctors will benefit by having better communication with each other.
“It has become very difficult to make a living in medicine and it’s only going to get worse,” McClure said. Reimbursement from insurers has not kept pace with increasing costs. The group can’t change the reimbursement structure, but it can address its own efficiency.
As such a large group, MIMA recognizes its increased responsibility for the health of the community. “The best way to fulfill that is to have physicians practicing in close proximity to each other and to diagnostic services,” he said.
In addition to the new Gateway building, MIMA operates facilities in Indialantic, near the Palm Bay Community Hospital, and near the planned Viera Hospital.
Modest Beginnings
Dr. Seelman
Melbourne Internal Medicine Associates got its start in 1969 with four doctors, including Dr. Robert Seelman, a hematologist/oncologist who continues to practice with the group. Isenman, a general internist, became doctor No. 10 to join. “All the MIMA doctors know their numbers,” Isenman said.
In fact, the top 20 generally rattle off each other’s numbers, as well. That’s made a bit easier by the fact there’s no No. 13. In 1978, when nephrologist Peter Gilbert became the thirteenth doctor to join the group, he was dubbed No. 14 to avoid the unlucky label. Apparently, even doctors aren’t immune to a twinge of superstition.
The doctors enjoy a lasting bond. The practice holds an annual party to welcome doctors who have joined the group, a gathering that’s well-attended by those who have retired from MIMA.
“So many of us have never practiced anywhere else. We came here out of training, loved it, and stayed,” Isenman said. In fact, the group soon will have three practicing second-generation doctors. Isenman’s son Eric and Dr. Baney’s son Richard Jr. already are part of MIMA, and will be joined by Dr. Peter Zabinski’s son Andy.
Groundbreaking of MIMA’s medical facility on Malabar Road included MIMA CEO Dr. Joseph McClure, left, and Malabar Mayor Tom Eschenberg. BELOW: The completed facility near Palm Bay hospital.
“There are quite a few other MIMA physicians’ children who are in medical school and advanced training who we hope will be joining us in the next few years,” Isenman said, noting that the trend speaks highly of the group.
In the early days, MIMA doctors were exclusively internists and subspecialties. During the late 1980s, the group branched out into family practice. “That worked well, so it gave us the courage,” Isenman said.
MIMA gradually added neurology, dermatology, general surgery, and then surgical specialties. “We really became a multi-specialty group,” he said.
MIMA then experimented with hiring a physician management company to handle the business side of the group, a practice that was becoming a trend in medicine. The arrangement lasted four years.
“We realized that as physicians, we had been managing our group forever, and we knew more than the reputed experts did,” Isenman said.
MIMA uses a democratic system, electing an eight-member board as well as the CEO. Each member is an equal shareholder.
The added resources have come with significant advantages. When Isenman dropped his pager, someone from MIMA’s information technology department called to ask what kind of replacement he wanted. When the group decided to invest in voice recognition software, staff interviewed vendors, chose a product and trained the doctors on using it.
Growth also has forced Isenman to move offices, which also is probably a good thing. When he left his original Sheridan Road office five years ago to move to the Hickory facility, he still had the original wallpaper and carpet from when he started to practice. His staff presented him with a framed section of the carpet, mounted on the wallpaper background to keep as a memento.
“I’m not someone who changes things frequently,” he said.
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