6 Steps to Creating Successful Hospital- Physician Integration

Integrated hospital-physician arrangements, which align clinical and financial interests, will be critical to the future success of hospitals and health systems.

An article published in Trustee magazine by experts at Kaufman, Hall & Associates, Inc., a healthcare financial strategy firm in Skokie, Illinois, suggests the following guidelines to ensure successfull hospital-physician integration:

-Develop an integration plan between the physicians and the organization: This integration plan should be combined with the overall strategic plan around service lines, facilities and technology, among other things.
-Ensure sufficient capital: Remember to identify, quantify and prioritize the financial and time costs of alignment. For example, acquiring a practice can cost $500,000 to $1.5 million per physician, according to the article.
-Use a disciplined approach to acquisitions: Be open to saying "no" if the opportunity doesn't benefit the organization or service line.
-Use structured physician compensation programs: Provide appropriate compensation that is based on fair-market value and productivity to stay competitive, as well as reward physicians for achieving goals.
-Integrate clinicians in quality: Involve the medical staff to achieve quality goals because they will likely be at the heart of care initiatives.
-Manage employed physicians: Closely look at revenue, productivity and costs to assess quality performance, outcomes, market share and satisfaction after the partnership.

Read the full article in Trustee, or click here:
http://www.trusteemag.com/trusteemag_app/jsp/articledisplay.jsp?dcrpath=TRUSTEEMAG/Article/data/07JUL2011/1107TRU_FEA_PARTNERSHIPS&domain=TRUSTEEMAG