Turning Hospital-Physician Conflict into Collaboration

This economic climate has more potential for change than anything we have seen recently.  With the possible dramatic changes in healthcare including changing reimbursement models, possible Medicare changes, ACOs, and even the trend towards hospital employments, physicians are bracing themselves on how to be stable in a shifting environment.

Physician's Practice has published an article on how physician's can pro-actively embrace these changes, including new ways of collaborating with hospitals and health systems as opposed to fighting the relationships, to plan for a positive change in an uncertain healthcare environment.



Read the full article in Physician's Practice, or click here: http://www.physicianspractice.com/mgma12/turning-hospital-physician-conflict-collaboration?GUID=98C7CA21-2AF6-465B-A27F-FC956DFC383F&rememberme=1&ts=19102012

How Oncologists Are Bypassing Employment Trend

While physicians overall are shifting from private practice to employment, large numbers of oncologists are bucking the employment trend, choosing to band together instead of selling to a hospital system. At the beginning of 2012, 10 private oncology practices united under a single provider identification number and a single tax ID to become Regional Cancer Care Associates (RC2A). The group now includes nearly 80 oncologists, 500 employees, and close to 300 chemotherapy chairs at 20 sites, stretching the length of New Jersey. There are plans to add 2 more practices by the end of the year, bringing the total number of physicians to over 100.

The merger of practices into RC2A was a way of getting ready for the era of accountable care. As ACOs take hold as a central component of healthcare reform, providers will have to focus more on care coordination and on collaboration, no matter where patients come from or are referred to. Beyond economics, the new practice wants to improve the quality of care and advance research as well. Licitra says the practice is looking also at ways to reduce hospitalizations to ensure a better quality of life for people being treated for cancer. 

Read the full article in MedScape, or click here: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/768815

Increase in Physician Practice Mergers and Acquisitions Expected to Continue

According to data released this July by Irving Levin Associates, a research firm based in Norwalk, Connecticut, there is an increase in the amount of money spent on medical practice mergers and acquisitions from the second quarter of 2012 compared with the same period in 2011.

A hospital or health system purchasing an existing practice is another way hospital employment is increasing in physician employment models.


Read the full article in American Medical News, or click here: http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/08/13/bisd0814.htm?utm_source=nwltr&utm_medium=heds-txt&utm_campaign=20120820

6 Critical Questions for Residents to Ask When Evaluating a Physician Practice

There are many criteria any physician needs to ask his or herself prior to selecting their first job out of training.

It is hard to consider every factor when evaluating several different opportunities; here is a checklist from Adventures in Medicine noting a few key points in evaluating an offer.

Read the full article by clicking here: http://www.adventuresinmedicine.net/doctor-career/6-critical-questions-to-ask-when-evaluating-a-practice/?goback=%2Egde_76194_member_147576360

Competition Increases for Physician Recruitment

For either Family Practice and Internal Medicine physicians as well as Surgeons and Specialists, now is the time to start recruiting for physician openings starting in 2013 or even 2014.

Hospitals and groups that are able to anticipate future need and willing to sign physicians in excess of 1 year prior to their availability will get the best choice of top physicians out of leading training programs.

Many 2013 residency or fellowship graduates have already signed with positions to start next summer, many others are in the process of interviewing and selecting positions to start once they complete their training.

Read more in an article from Physician's Practice by clicking here: http://www.physicianspractice.com/blog/content/article/1462168/2095255

Solo Private Practice Not Dead

Despite the recent media attention to the transition of hospital employment and the solo practice physician completely phasing out, there is and will always be a market available to those physicians in any specialty who wish to run a solo practice.

Market trends are making it harder to stay competitive and with all of the attention to quality of life hospital employed opportunities are becoming more appealing to many physicians, however there will always be room for those physicians who wish to operate a private and even solo practice.

Healthcare Finance News has published a recent article on how solo practice physicians can thrive in even this market, and how there will be room for a solo model in any market condition.  Solo physicians may have to shift to adjust to market trends and stay competitive, but they will never be completely phased out.

Read the full article by clicking here:
http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/solo-practice-physicians-im-not-dead?goback=%2Egde_3898461_member_141158532

Physician Recruitment: Hospital vs. Private Practices

Recently there has been a lot of media attention on the continuing trend of hospital employment and also the decrease in the private practice.  In an article published today from American Medical News it is suggested that hospitals are much more aggressive in recruiting physicians than their private practice counterparts, attributing increasing growth to more progressive recruiting.

Hospitals also more frequently utilize agencies to help fill their physician openings, helping present more hospital employed positions to active candidates through physician staffing agencies.

There will always be a place for the private practice physician in every physician employment model environment, however to remain competitive and profitable and access the best physician candidates each type of employment model needs to be willing to mold to economic trends.

Read the full article by clicking here: http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/07/23/bil20723.htm

Contract Language: Negotiating Part-Time Employment for Physicians

There has been an increasing trend in part-time employment opportunities for physicians, both male and female physicians.  In order to balance a quality of life with dedicated time for both family and a medical practice, many physicians are seeking part-time opportunities.

According to a recent survey by the American Medical Group Management Association and Cejka Search, 21% percent of U.S. physicians are working part time, compared with 13% in 2005.


It's important for physicians to approach the contract negotiation process of part-time employment opportunities just as a full-time employment situation.  The same issues need to be determined and can also be negotiated during the signing process and before the physician commits to any agreement.  Employment status, compensation, benefits, and insurance all need to be in clear, written format, as well as the work expectations of the physician and other clinical issues such as call and restrictive covenants.


American Medical News has published an article outlining other issues to ensure a part-time employment contract is mutually beneficial to both parties.  Read the full article by clicking here: http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/07/16/bicb0716.htm

Physician Employment Models

Hospital employment is prevalent as the current most popular physician employment model, however there are still other models to consider.  The trend is cyclical as well, during any climate it's important for physicians to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses associated with all employment models before signing an employment agreement.

This article recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine elaborates on different types of employment models offered as well as an assessment of the risks and benefits associated with each respecitve model.

To read the full article click here: http://www.nejmcareercenter.org/article/6541/sustainable-income-understanding-the-benefits-and-risks-of-various-compensation-models/

Private Practices: How to Survive Alongside the Trend of Hospital Employment

There is so much press regarding the trend towards hospital employment, but for those physicians dedicated to a private practice model, how do you survive amongst all of the other local physicians becoming employed by the larger hospital systems?  As more and more physicians take positions in hospital groups, independent practitioners face an array of challenges. If you are a physician with a practice in an area where the hospitals have acquired many of the local physicians, you may be finding it increasingly difficult to survive.  To counterbalance the power of hospitals, private practice physicians and their partners can form a larger single-specialty group, an independent practice association (IPA), or some other clinical integration vehicle. As hospital competition grows, physicians in private models are finding other options to remain competitive and profitable.  Some options private practice physicians have in order to compete with local employed physicians are IPAs, physician-hospital organizations, and group practices without walls.  Smaller practices can unite to leverage themselves against larger, employed systems.  There will always be a place for the private practice physician, and private groups can remain profitable in every employment climate, although they may have to evolve with the times.   Read more in the MedScape article by clicking here: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/765250