Integration & Physician Issues

Physicians have the advantage in today's job market because of the nationwide physician shortage, says Dawn Golden, a physician recruiter who has worked for Catalina Medical Recruiters in Phoenix the past 8 ½ years, conducting both permanent placement and locum…

Connie Curran, RN, is the CEO of Best on Board, a company that provides governance education, testing and certification for hospital and health system board members. Here she discusses current changes in physician recruitment and the traits hospitals should prioritize…

The American Medical Group Association, representing large group practices, played a central role in shaping accountable care organizations and sees group practices, and not hospitals, as the mainstay of ACOs, according to Chet Speed, vice president of public policy for…

Hospital employment of physicians has become increasingly popular in recent years and is only expected to continue. Most industry leaders predict that reimbursement will increasingly favor quality over quantity, and organizations most poised to profit under this type of system…

A recent survey by SK&A, a provider of healthcare information solutions, has found that 90 percent of physicians are affiliated with at least one hospital, and the average physician is affiliated with 1.7 hospitals, according to a SK&A news release.

Oakwood Healthcare, a four-hospital system in Dearborn, Mich., announced in June it was starting an accountable care organization. Here, Bill Isenstein, senior vice president for managed care at Oakwood, explains its plans for an ACO.

Hospitals seeking to maintain a strong network of referring primary care physicians may face major challenges in the years ahead if their community does not offer an employed practice model. Many physicians coming out of residency have a different mindset…

Spokane (Wash.) Cardiology and Heart Clinics Northwest, also in Spokane, will merge with Renton, Wash.-based Providence Health & Services to form Providence Spokane Heart Institute, according to a report by the Spokesman-Review.

Arkansas Heart Center, a four-physician cardiology group in Fort Smith, Ark., has joined Sparks Health System, also based in Fort Smith, according to a report by the City Wire.

A glance at the headlines shows how badly healthcare needs to become more efficient. Healthcare spending in the United States rose 5.7 percent in 2009, to $2.5 trillion. It now commands 17.3 percent of the gross domestic product, up from…