Integration & Physician Issues

The Integrated Healthcare Association has been awarded a three-year, $2.9 million grant by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to demonstrate bundled payments for physicians, hospitals and other providers and to evaluate their effectiveness compared to current payment methods…

Although CMS' regulations for accountable care organizations have not yet been released, it is believed by some that the regulations will favor larger ACOs over smaller ones, according to a report by Crain's Detroit Business.

Tucson, Ariz.-based Carondelet Health Network subsidiary Carondelet Specialist Group has acquired six-physician Southwest Heart, according to a Carondelet news release.

In a letter to the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission, nine senators urged the two antitrust enforcement agencies to share jurisdiction over accountable care organizations, according to a report by AHA News Now.

SwedishAmerican Health System has acquired the Lundholm Surgical Group, which will be renamed SwedishAmerican Medical Group/Lundholm Orthopedics, according to a health system news release.

The delay in accountable care organization regulations has not stopped health systems in the state of Michigan from forming ACOs, according to a Crain’s Detroit Business report. Some of the ACOs forming in Southeast Michigan may not survive as independent…

Dearborn, Mich.-based United Outstanding Physicians, a physician organization with more than 1,000 physicians, has launched an accountable care organization, according to a Crain's Detroit Business report.

Physicians from St. Paul (Minn.) Cardiology have integrated with St. Paul-based HealthEast Care System and will be employed by the health system, according to a news release by HealthEast.

St. Louis-based SSM Health Care has acquired 22 physicians from oncology and orthopedic practices, according to a St. Louis Business Journal report. The hospital network acquired Missouri Cancer Care in January to form SSM Cancer Care oncology practice. Eight physicians…

Decreasing reimbursements as well as increased regulatory requirements have caused many cardiologists across the country to seek refuge through hospital employment. By selling their practices to a hospital, cardiologists gain a steady income and are able to focus more on…