Start early and build relationships, CEO advises
Start early and build relationships, CEO advises
One practice’s approach to rapid growth
H. Parker Eales remembers when the health care market in the Triangle area of North Carolina was in its managed care infancy. This was the moment when Raleigh-based multispecialty group Cardinal Healthcare P.A. decided to plunge in with both eyes wide open."No one can underestimate how quickly managed care can evolve," the former CEO for Cardinal Healthcare P.A. recalls. Cardinal Healthcare quickly decided it wanted to help shape the growth in the managed care market, rather than simply reacting to moves made by payers. The practice’s strategy included:
• Executing "cashless mergers" with other practices in town, taking the group from its origins as a 20-physician multispecialty group to an organization that eventually had 17 facilities.
• Building two independent practice associations with a total of 500 physicians to help empower physicians and make Cardinal a larger market player.
• Eventually negotiating with MedPartners, a physician partnership management company in Birmingham, AL, which led to an acquisition in November. "For physicians to react to market realities, you need the help of a good operating company," he explains. "You reach a certain point where you’ve just got to have the capital and operating clout [a practice management company can offer]."
Eales says he feels strongly that forming collaborative relationships is essential to physician empowerment in a managed care environment. "It’s physician interdependence that’s the task, not independence. You need to get into structures that can be an advocate for physicians, where the payers, the hospitals, and the physicians are equally empowered."
Subscribe Now for Access
You have reached your article limit for the month. We hope you found our articles both enjoyable and insightful. For information on new subscriptions, product trials, alternative billing arrangements or group and site discounts please call 800-688-2421. We look forward to having you as a long-term member of the Relias Media community.