Medical Staff Integration

There is a transformation of equity occurring in the health care industry with hospitals and health systems purchasing physician practices. As traditional hospital structures meet the entrepreneurial physician manager in today's rapidly changing environment, numerous transitional challenges are emerging. Medical Staff Integration: Transactions and Transformation fills the void that exists between hospital management texts and physician management literature. It examines the cultural and functional issues that must be addressed when hospitals and health systems purchase physician practices. Written by a leading consultant in the health care industry, the book covers the changes occurring in a nonjudgmental fashion and from a business case perspective. It supplies an understanding of the basics behind the various types of relationships that are forming as well as the nuts and bolts of the transitions that will result. The book focuses on the challenges readers will most likely face when merging systems, culture, and functions. It explains how to assure that the acquisitions will meet the needs of all parties-emphasizing the income determination structures required for the continued motivation of physicians. Addressing some of the limitations hospitals face with physician practice integrations, including the traditional medical staff structure, hospital-based physicians, and contracted physicians, the book also discusses the growing role and impact of compliance.

Mike La Penna has been a consultant to physician groups and hospitals for more than 25 years. He has served in a number of board positions on health care organizations and community service organizations. He has been an executive in both nonprofit and for-profit health care environments. Mike is a graduate of the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, where he earned an MBA and a certificate in health care administration. He has a BA in economics from Western Michigan University, and he has held faculty positions in both undergraduate and graduate business programs. Mike's expertise includes strategic planning, payer negotiation, real estate ventures, product branding, independent provider association (IPA)/physician-hospital organization (PHO) development and management, equity and risk arrangements, technology applications, faculty group practice plans, and merger, acquisition, and divestiture strategies. The La Penna Group, Inc. was founded in 1987 to provide business consulting services to physicians, hospitals, and health care delivery systems. It has also worked with industry and with governmental units to develop solutions for a variety of health care delivery situations. He has been an advisor to numerous national associations and authored numerous articles on health care trends, physician practice management, and network development. He has commented on health care for numerous publications and news outlets, including Crain's, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and NPR. Mr. La Penna is an advisor to some of the worlds largest health care delivery organizations and to numerous Fortune 100 firms.

Conceptualizing New Models of Care Based on Traditional Structures. Does Anyone Know the Definition of Integration? Does What We Have Now Actually Work? Ignoring Fundamentals Will Produce Unwanted Results. Where Are We Headed and What Will Get Us There? The Basic PHO (Joint Governance) or IPA (Independence). The MSO (Services). Co-Management Programs (Partnership). Contracts and Subcontracts (Managing Relationships). Sponsored Practices and Hired Practitioners (Employment). Align the Correct Solution Supported by Effective Communications. Recognize the Different Parties to the Transaction. Address Issues of Colleagues, Culture, and Politics. Discern between Patient Management and Practice Management. Separate the Transactional Issues from the Transitional Process. Establish Fundamental Standards and Link These Standards to Definitive Policies. Align the Compensation with the Programming. Developing a Core Set of Strategic Issues. Is There a Clear Value Proposition? Build an Organization That Can Learn and Transform Itself. To Understand Success, Study Failure. Appendix: Samples and Examples.