Hospitals are no longer buying practices at the high prices of the 1990s, which led to hospitals losing money on physicians. “Now is not a good time to be paying too much,” said Steve Burriss, senior vice president of operations and ambulatory care at Rex Healthcare in Raleigh, N.C., part of UNC Health Care. “We are really limited by fair market value.”
In addition to employing some physicians, Rex has aligned with independent physicians through ASC joint ventures, a non-profit physician network and access to an electronic medical record system at subsidized rates.
Meanwhile, the Western Wisconsin division of Hospital Sisters Health System brought in a family physician from Oregon to run sessions with physicians on how they could relate to the system’s Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, Wis.
“Some physicians are not really interested in an employment model and want to be a little bit more creative and look at different models,” said Chris Longbella, MD, chair for primary care development for the Western Wisconsin Division of Hospital Sisters Health System.
Even hospitals directly employing physicians are increasingly allowing schedules and workloads to be flexible. Randy Munson, physician recruitment program manager in the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health, said physicians have the upper hand in discussions with hospitals. “If you were playing cards, physicians would be holding the aces and the kings and the queens,” he said. “Hospitals have the threes and the fours and the fives. It’s just so competitive.”
Read the American Medical News report on employing physicians.
Read more coverage on hospital-physician relationships:
– Cleveland-Area Hospitals Strengthen Ties With Independent Physicians as They Prepare for ACOs
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