Mississippi Sports Medicine consolidates regional practices under one brand in major USOP-backed realignment

Mississippi Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center will unify under a single statewide identity on August 4, 2025, following a strategic merger backed by U.S. Orthopaedic Partners (USOP), the nation’s largest orthopedic management services organization. The move consolidates Oxford Ortho & Sports Medicine and the Orthopaedic Institute of North Mississippi with Jackson-based Mississippi Sports Medicine, forming the state’s most extensive network of orthopedic care.

This brand alignment is a physician-led decision designed to improve access, deepen collaboration, and simplify the patient experience across Mississippi’s orthopedic landscape. USOP’s strategy is built on maintaining local physician autonomy while scaling shared operational, marketing, and clinical capabilities. The newly expanded Mississippi Sports Medicine network will include 32 physicians, 33 advanced practice providers, and 18 locations across the state.

Why U.S. Orthopaedic Partners is merging Mississippi’s leading orthopedic practices

U.S. Orthopaedic Partners, which supports a network of ten orthopedic groups throughout the Southeast, views this unification as a model for regional consolidation without corporate centralization. Unlike traditional hospital system acquisitions, this realignment was driven by the physicians themselves and retains local clinical independence—a key tenet of USOP’s MSO model.

“This brand decision came from the physicians themselves,” said Steve Holtzclaw, MD, MBA, CEO of USOP. “Our role is to support and elevate independent practices—not to rewrite them.” The organization provides centralized growth services, strategic planning, operational standardization, and marketing support while allowing doctors to retain control over clinical decisions.

Mississippi Sports Medicine, established in 1984, has long held a leadership position in orthopedic subspecialties such as joint replacement, sports medicine, and spine care. Oxford Ortho and OINMS add strong reputations and decades of regional credibility to the mix. This merger reflects years of informal cooperation between the practices, including shared training programs, clinical alignment, and similar care philosophies.

“We’re not changing who we are—we’re reinforcing it,” said Dr. Kurre Luber, orthopedic surgeon and team physician for Ole Miss Athletics. “Joining under the Mississippi Sports Medicine name lets us keep growing while staying true to the care our patients and communities know and trust.”

How the Mississippi Sports Medicine rebrand enhances access and subspecialty care

With the new brand structure going into effect on August 4, patients will continue to be treated by the same providers at existing locations. What changes is the underlying operational connectivity—improved referral coordination, shared research, and broader access to subspecialists.

“This simplifies the patient experience and strengthens our visibility in a competitive healthcare market,” said Aaron McKevitt, MBA, USOP’s senior director of marketing and growth. The unified branding also offers strategic advantages: easier communication with referring providers, greater institutional leverage for payer contracts, and enhanced recruitment of top orthopedic talent.

The practices involved have demonstrated high levels of collaboration in the past, sharing resources across markets and aligning on orthopedic protocols. Dr. J.R. Woodall, PhD, spine surgeon at MSMOC and current chair of the USOP board, explained the long-term vision: “Working under a single, trusted brand wasn’t just logical—it was better for patients, clearer for referring providers, and empowering for our teams.”

This consolidation reinforces a long-term institutional strategy that values locally rooted care backed by regional scale. For patients, the result will be a seamless care experience that offers broader options, greater geographic convenience, and improved access to state-of-the-art techniques.

Institutional support and long-term outlook for integrated orthopedic care in the Southeast

The U.S. Orthopaedic Partners model represents a fast-growing alternative to hospital-centered orthopedic consolidation. By supporting independent practices with backend infrastructure—including revenue cycle management, marketing, staffing strategy, IT platforms, and regulatory compliance—USOP enables physicians to scale without giving up control.

Across the Southeast, where USOP has a major presence, demand for orthopedic care is rising due to aging populations and growing participation in sports-related activities. The group’s integrated approach addresses these trends by improving access, reducing fragmentation, and allowing for faster adoption of advanced surgical techniques.

Although USOP is not publicly listed, institutional interest in the orthopedic MSO sector has risen steadily. Analysts tracking healthcare consolidation trends note that physician-led networks backed by strong service platforms may outperform traditional M&A-driven strategies in fragmented markets. The Mississippi realignment supports this thesis by demonstrating organic, mission-aligned consolidation.

Moreover, brand equity plays a significant role in patient retention and referral optimization. Mississippi Sports Medicine already carries strong statewide recognition, which will now benefit former Oxford Ortho and OINMS practices as well. As larger hospital systems seek market share in outpatient musculoskeletal care, this rebrand may position USOP-backed groups as formidable competitors in the private sector.

Future outlook for physician-led orthopedic networks

With this merger, Mississippi becomes a showcase market for USOP’s model of scalable, physician-led integration. Similar consolidations may follow in other Southeastern states, particularly in geographies where independent practices still dominate the orthopedic landscape.

USOP’s national network now includes more than 10 orthopedic practices across the region. The organization is expected to announce further partnerships in the second half of 2025, focusing on geographies where there is high demand for subspecialty orthopedic services and where practice alignment can unlock operational efficiency.

For now, the August 4 transition in Mississippi will be a pivotal moment—one that exemplifies the MSO’s growing influence in shaping the next generation of orthopedic care delivery.