Dive Brief:
- Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare may be replacing its service contracts with local anesthesiology, emergency and hospitalists with national provider groups. In May, the organization notified its Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo, CA, that it was considering the change.
- The hospital notified the local newspaper, The Tribune, that Tenet may change its services at up to 11 hospitals in California. It later told Sierra Regional that it had changed its plans, but did not say if the current contracts were safe at a later time. Tenet would not comment for the article, but Lang Do, an attorney for the California Medical Association, said the new providers would likely be Glendale, CA-based ApolloMed, Knoxville, TN-based TeamHealth or Dallas-based EmCare.
- An alliance of health professionals from the state launched the Coalition for Quality Hospital Care in August to try and stop Tenet's efforts. The groups has hundreds of members and is supported by the American Academy of Emergency Medication and the California ACEP.
Dive Insight:
As with many healthcare decisions, the motivation behind the move would be to cut costs. Tenet currently provides stipends to the three groups to ensure quality care, said CMA attorney Long Do in an article in Physician's News Network. A single contract for all of the hospitals Tenet owns in California would be less expensive than individual ones they are currently paying. But the move could leave physicians replacing their current contracts with the new out-of-state groups, possibly at a lower salary.