Integration & Physician Issues

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.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida has launched its statewide patient-centered medical home program, in which more than 1,500 primary care physicians have already enrolled.

Douglas County Hospital in Alexandria, Minn., has begun negotiations to acquire Alexandria Clinic, a multi-specialty clinic with locations in Alexandria and Osakis, Minn., according to an Echo Press report.

Every hospital or health system has money that can be salvaged from past accounts — it's only a matter of how much can be saved and how it's done.

Greenville (S.C.) Hospital System is set to acquire the Cancer Centers of the Carolinas, which includes 10 clinics, for $21.7 million, according to an Independent Mail report.

Blue Cross Blue Shield has launched new programs in Connecticut and New York under which primary care physicians will be paid more for quality and cost improvements.