Glendale, Calif.-based USC Verdugo Hills Hospital's decision to exclusively contract with a sole physician group for its intensive care unit has elicited concern and debate from physicians on the hospital's medical staff, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Here are four things to know:
1. USC Verdugo Hills Hospital began soliciting proposals from interested physician organizations to provide pulmonary/critical care services in its ICU in 2016 as part of a pilot program. Hospital administrators selected intensivists from Pasadena, Calif.-based Foothill Pulmonary and Critical Care Consultants Medical Group, which officially began servicing the facility's ICU when its pilot program began in January.
2. Under the program, patients admitted to the ICU may request their primary physician. However, that physician may not write or change prescription orders without the on-duty intensivist's approval. Physicians credentialed as intensivists but who are not part of Foothills Pulmonary also cannot bill for any time spent with patients in the unit, the report states.
3. The hospital solicited physician feedback for the program in August, as administration was "considering making the arrangement permanent," the Los Angeles Times reports. Several physicians who had treated patients at the hospital's ICU wrote letters protesting the decision. They argued a closed unit would restrict physician access and patient choice.
"[The hospital's] administrative policy excludes members of the medical staff with impeccable service records from caring for their patients and prevents members of the community from having access to the doctors who have loved and cared for them for many years. How does this promote a nurturing, therapeutic environment for anyone?" one physician wrote in a letter dated Sept. 14, according to the report.
4. While the hospital's medical executive committee opted to make the exclusive contract permanent in September, administrators said they plan to reconvene with physicians after a one-year period to review the data.
To access the full report, click here.