Integration & Physician Issues

The following transactions or developments between hospitals and physician groups took place within the past month, beginning with the most recent.

Concentra, a subsidiary of the Louisville, Ky.-based insurer Humana, has acquired a primary care practice in Lincolnwood, Ill., bringing its total number of medical centers in Chicagoland to 15.

Glens Falls (N.Y.) Hospital has attracted Adirondack Cardiology Associates to join the hospital in a merger aimed at better coordinating cardiology care, according to a Business Review report.

UnitedHealth Group is reportedly revising the way it pays physicians and hospitals through the creation of "value-based" contracts that will reward providers for high-quality and efficient care, according to a Reuters report.

The 11 providers with Cheyenne (Wyo.) Medical Specialists are joining Poudre Valley Medical Group, part of Fort Collins, Colo.-based Poudre Valley Health System.

Oak Brook, Ill.-based Advocate Medical Group, the physician arm of Advocate Health Care, has agreed to acquire Oak Lawn, Ill.-based MidAmerica Cardiovascular Consultants for $3.5 million, according to a Crain's Chicago Business report.

Judging from recent news reports, surveys and studies, many hospital CEOs might imagine physicians running — not walking — to their local hospital and pleading for employment. As of 2010, roughly 75 percent of physicians were already in financial relationships…

The results of a recent survey of more than 200 healthcare leaders by Jarrard, Phillips, Cate and Hancock published in the firm's Inside Baseball newsletter suggests that joint venturing with physicians is the most popular current physician alignment strategy (49.8…

The U.S. primary care workforce was comprised of approximately 295,000 primary care professionals in 2010, according to research findings published by the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research.

The way in which physicians are reimbursed for participation in accountable care organizations is likely to determine whether they change their current fee-for-service practices, according to a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine.