Integration & Physician Issues

The HHS' Office of Inspector General has issued an advisory opinion regarding a 50-50 partnership between a health system and a physician group, both in a position to refer business to one another, to develop an ambulatory care center. The…

Question from orthopedic surgeon: Do you see or sense a movement by government or big (medical) business to legislate or eliminate the independent medical practitioner/business? This was asked by one of our orthopedic physicians. He thought you might know.

Indianapolis-based Community Health Network is in the processes of developing an accountable care organization, saying it has a head start on other hospitals in the Indianapolis market, according to an Indianapolis Business Journal report.

Advocate Physician Partners has already stepped into the brave new world of integrated care, signing managed care contracts that assume risk. This loosely affiliated group of 3,700 physicians in the Chicago area includes 800 physicians employed by Advocate Health Care,…

Cigna and Piedmont Physicians Group in Atlanta launched the state's first accountable care organization pilot program, according to a Cigna news release.

Officials from the Federal Trade Commission, HHS Office of Inspector General and CMS will address antitrust, physician self-referral, anti-kickback and civil monetary penalty issues for accountable care organizations in a free day-long workshop in Baltimore on Oct. 5, according to…

Senate Republicans are seeking to scrap new tax reporting provisions in the health reform law that would raise $17 billion from businesses over 10 years, according to a report by Kaiser Health News.

Budget cuts and lower reimbursements mean hospitals and ASCs are increasingly looking to work with other facilities to save money. Wayne Miller, JD, of Compliance Law Group in Thousand Oaks, Calif., offers four reasons physicians and hospitals are considering ASC…

Earlier this year, Blue Shield of California, Catholic Healthcare West and San Ramon, Calif-based Hill Physicians launched what is essentially an accountable care organization to manage the care of more than 40,000 members of the California Public Employees' Retirement System.…

Continuing downward pressure on reimbursements has threatened the sustainability of hospitals, and some within the industry see a significant need for providers to respond differently than they have in the past. "Significant shake out will play out in different ways…