Tacoma, Wash.-based MultiCare Health System partnered with Sound Physicians to expand its hospitalist program.
The partnership, which was announced Jan. 6, is intended to help the system better manage inpatient populations regionally instead of at the individual hospital level, MultiCare said. MultiCare added that the partnership will help the system implement standard tools, processes and regional best practices, in addition to expanding its population health initiatives.
Some staff and physicians at MultiCare have expressed concern about the change and how it will affect their pay and benefits, according to a Feb. 1 article in The News Tribune. MultiCare said in a news release that, "Over the last year, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of regional coordination among hospitalist teams, the providers who take care of hospitalized patients."
Sound Physicians, also based in Tacoma, already provides hospitalist services at MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, Wash. MultiCare's Tacoma General Hospital, Allenmore Hospital in Tacoma and Covington (Wash.) Medical Center will transition to Sound Physicians.
The change is planned to take effect April 5. MultiCare may also expand the partnership to its Auburn (Wash.) Medical Center.