Healthcare reform efforts have made physician alignment and integration of upmost importance for the future success of hospitals and health systems, because reimbursement is now dependent, at least in part, on more performance-driven metrics. The following stories from the past four months pertain to physician alignment and integration issues in today's healthcare environment.
1. Quint Studer, founder of Gulf Breeze, Fla.-based Studer Group, identified 10 signs of troubled physician alignment during Studer Group's "Take You and Your Organization to the Next Level" meeting in Chicago in August.
2. Mike Williams, president and CEO of Community Hospital Corp., discussed two physician alignment strategies — employment and clinical co-management — and how hospitals can pursue both models.
3. Gail Peace, president and CEO of Ludi, Inc., a company that helps hospitals automate, track and actively manage physician-hospital agreements, and Joane Goodroe, an independent consultant, discussed co-management and bundled payment as strategies hospitals use to align with physicians to improve quality and lower costs.
4. At the Becker's Hospital Review 4th Annual Meeting in Chicago in May, Steven Goldstein, president and CEO of Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y., and Chris Van Gorder, president and CEO of Scripps Health in San Diego, talked about their systems' experiences with aligning with physicians.
5. Lani Berman, MBA, vice president of performance services for VHA, and Donald Hicks, senior principal of physician strategies and services for VHA, shared three lessons learned from physician integration efforts at Becker's Hospital Review's 4th Annual Meeting in Chicago in May.