Case Study: Employed Physician Group Strategy

Background

One of our clients in the Northeast has done a superior job with their employed physician group strategy. With the hospital’s employment strategy maturing, our client had moved on to seeking “value” from the group. With that in mind, the hospital engaged their employed physicians in a planning process to develop an expanded group strategy to accomplish:

1. Defining a mutual vision for the growth and operation of the employed group; and
2. Defining how the group will work with the hospital to accomplish mutual objectives, particularly those related to reform.

Solution

Through the planning process, the following strategies were defined:

1. Empowerment of a physician-led advisory board to drive the group and make key decisions
2. Definition of care processes within the group around best practices, and development of infrastructure to institutionalize those standards
3. Creation of systems to facilitate patient hand-offs, thereby improving care across the continuum
4. Development of a robust primary care strategy, including development of the medical home model
5. Implementation of an integrated EHR across the system
6. Development of a system to ensure that appropriate referrals stay within the system
7. Development of a common brand and marketing strategy
8. Creation of a regional growth strategy
9. Definition of norms and expectations of behavior for physician group members
10. Development of a compensation system that aligns incentives across the organization