Providence, R.I.-based Lifespan has formed a partnership with a new independent physician association, Community Physician Partners.
The association has 170 primary care physicians and is the product of combining four Rhode Island-based groups: Anchor Medical Associates, which has offices in Lincoln, Providence and Warwick; Medical Associates of Rhode Island, which has offices in Bristol and East Providence; University Internal Medicine in Pawtucket; and University Medicine, which has offices in Providence and the surrounding area.
The creation of the combined groups allows the physicians to remain independent yet benefit from contracting with Lifespan and its payers. The goal of the partnership is to streamline and enhance care delivery starting in the primary care office. Lifespan will help the physician group ease some administrative burden by providing access to its EHR and network of specialty physicians.
"We strongly believe that the primary care physician must take center stage in our efforts to deliver care in an extremely cost effective way and, importantly, in a way that clearly demonstrates quality outcomes," Lifespan President and CEO Timothy Babineau, MD, said in a statement.
The physician groups echoed this sentiment, adding that the support from Lifespan will ease some industry pressures on their practice.
"There is a strong [tendency among] primary care physicians to want to go it alone, but in this day and age, we just can't," David Marcoux, MD, co-founder of University Internal Medicine and president of CPP, said in a statement. "The beauty of Community Physicians Partners is that we still have the autonomy to treat our patients in the manner we believe most appropriate, but with the incredible bench support of the Lifespan network of specialty physicians and infrastructure assistance, which frees up precious time for the primary care doctor to do what he or she does best — care for the patient."
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