Integration & Physician Issues

Lincolnshire, Ill.-based Complete Orthopaedic Care has announced they will integrate into Downers Grove, Ill.-based Advocate Medical Group — one of the largest medical groups in the state, effective June 30.

The Federation of State Medical Boards has launched its new redesigned website at www.fsmb.org, according to an article in Newswise.

In a recent report by Alpharetta, Ga.-based Jackson Healthcare, physicians whose income decreased in the past year, 61 percent would not encourage a career in the medical field.

Only one black student walked across the stage to receive a degree from the Columbia-based University of Missouri School of Medicine this year, and only three are expected to graduate next year, according to an article in the Missourian.

Hospitals are increasingly partnering with federal and private payers in risk-based contracting to improve cost efficiencies, according to a survey of hospital executives.

Healthways, headquartered in Franklin, Tenn., and Genesis Physician Group of Dallas have partnered to form GenHealth, a health services organization designed to support independent physicians with a population health management infrastructure.

Nearly half — 44 percent — of rural areas in the United States are experiencing a shortage of primary care practitioners, according to a panel of physicians at Rural Health Journalism 2014 covered by the Association of Health Care Journalists.

The new Las Cruces-based New Mexico State University osteopathic medical school secured 300 residency slots across 13 hospitals in New Mexico, according to an Albuquerque Business First report. 

Nearly a quarter of physicians (23 percent) would not choose to become a physician again if they could turn back time, according to a survey by The Medicus Firm.

As the healthcare industry becomes increasingly integrated in pursuit of achieving the triple aim, hospitals and physicians are beginning to work more closely to reduce redundancies in care, increase communication and decrease costs.