As hospitals gear up for accountable care organizations, independent physicians are "a hot commodity," says Mary C. Reed, vice president of Gateway Health in Cleveland. Ms. Reed, who is helping a number of organizations create ACOs, says non-employed physicians, who are often specialists, are sorely needed to make ACOs run, and they need to be treated well. She provided six tips on dealing with independent physicians at the recent National Accountable Care Organization Congress in Los Angeles.
1. Understand their concerns. For example, independent physicians may be wary about sharing patient data or working with employed physicians. Ms. Reed says in one of the organizations she worked with, the employed doctors looked down on the independent physicians.
2. Give them input in governance. Physicians are not just concerned about payment," Ms. Reed says. "They also want to have influence." Give them a place on committees and other governance structures within the organization.
3. Don’t try to force them to be exclusive. Independent physicians often do not want to be limited to just one system. Ms. Reed recalls when a hospital insisted on an exclusive contract with physicians, it was a deal-breaker for most of them.
4. Give them great incentives to join. Hospitals commonly offer discounted electronic health record systems as an incentive, but some large specialty groups already have EHR. Other incentives include making data reports as easy to follow as possible and reducing extra work for staff in physicians' practices.
5. Establish new links with them. It helps if the organization has experience with co-management arrangements, contracting with a group of outside physicians to manage a department or a service line. "This is a good place to start for clinical integration," Ms. Reed says.
6. Connect with them on quality. Physicians will be motivated by measures that focus on quality, not just efficiency. Often the first signs of progress are on the quality side. "This is what keeps people motivated," Ms. Reed says.
Learn more about the Gateway Group.
1. Understand their concerns. For example, independent physicians may be wary about sharing patient data or working with employed physicians. Ms. Reed says in one of the organizations she worked with, the employed doctors looked down on the independent physicians.
2. Give them input in governance. Physicians are not just concerned about payment," Ms. Reed says. "They also want to have influence." Give them a place on committees and other governance structures within the organization.
3. Don’t try to force them to be exclusive. Independent physicians often do not want to be limited to just one system. Ms. Reed recalls when a hospital insisted on an exclusive contract with physicians, it was a deal-breaker for most of them.
4. Give them great incentives to join. Hospitals commonly offer discounted electronic health record systems as an incentive, but some large specialty groups already have EHR. Other incentives include making data reports as easy to follow as possible and reducing extra work for staff in physicians' practices.
5. Establish new links with them. It helps if the organization has experience with co-management arrangements, contracting with a group of outside physicians to manage a department or a service line. "This is a good place to start for clinical integration," Ms. Reed says.
6. Connect with them on quality. Physicians will be motivated by measures that focus on quality, not just efficiency. Often the first signs of progress are on the quality side. "This is what keeps people motivated," Ms. Reed says.
Learn more about the Gateway Group.