From the merger of three independent practices in 1998, ENT and Allergy Associates has since grown to be one of the largest otolaryngology practices in the nation. In the span of 20 years, the original 12 partners swelled to 140 partners in 43 different locations, with more than 200 otolaryngologists and over 115 audiologists in the greater New York Metropolitan area. The Tarrytown-based practice, which also has a county location in Harrison and a new office in White Plains at 222 Bloomingdale Road, is expected to continue to grow with a projected 1 million patients in the upcoming year.
“It’s a natural growth of the number of physicians that are joining us,” says ENT CEO Robert Glazer. “I think the practice has broadened its scope; we do anything from office-based procedures, minimally invasive surgical care, to big head and neck cases. So I think that we have become much more robust over these 20 years.”
ENT and Allergy Associates are affiliated with Montefiore Medial Center, Mount Sinai Hospital, and Northwell Health and they subspecialize in otolaryngology, allergy, and audiology. Their services expanded to include about 40 board-certified allergists, which were originally not part of the practice. Now, the average physician sees about 100 patients each week.
What’s driving the demand for this type of specialty practice in the greater New York Metropolitan area? “Certainly in the northeast, there is more allergy and you have more trees, but I really believe that it was driven by the demographics,” explains Glazer. “I think we happen to be in the right spot for this to happen.”
ENT’s successful expansion over the past 20 years is also due in part to long-term strategic planning, Glazer adds, saying that ENT centered its focus on making sure it could deliver a product that is both physician- and-patient friendly. The practice also made investments in programming along with business and clinical technologies, and works to stay up to date on technological advances and to market themselves online and on social media platforms.
“You can’t get to where we are today unless you make a commitment to reinvest in yourselves,” notes Glazer. The new White Plains location is a prime example of ENT’s mission to constantly update and upgrade its local facilities.
Instead of buying practices, Glazer instead focuses on various means of recruiting the next generation of otolaryngologists and allergists along with well-established practitioners.
Potential local competition, such as from general group medical practices including Westmed Medical Group and CareMount Medical, is not much of a concern for this highly populated area. Instead, ENT focuses on goals pertaining to its patients. One example is making sure to see patients in a timely manner, which ENT prides itself on.
“Our tagline is ‘call us today, see us today,’ and we try to deliver on that. I think our patients appreciate that,” says Glazer. “People want to be seen today and they want a highly qualified physician to do that.”