speCial Feature
The Rising Role of
Physician
Liaisons
By Colin Stayton
tAppI n g A n e w
r eSo U rC e fo r
h oS pItAlS
aS hoSPitalS continue to buy up small practices,
they struggle to offset the inevitable financial blow
as they wait for these practices to grow their referral
bases. According to a 2011 New England Journal of
Medicine article, hospitals lose thousands of dollars
during the first three years of employing a physician.
For a hospital to break even, a new specialist has to
increase referrals by 25 percent. A hospital that hires
a physician liaison for its practice-based specialists
can potentially ramp up referrals faster, shortening the
revenue-negative honeymoon period as a result.
"You hear a lot about hospital buyouts, but you don't
hear about physician liaisons from hospitals helping
align the hospital with its practices," says Amanda
Kanaan, founder and President of WhiteCoat Designs.
"In large health systems, [newly bought out] practices
are complaining about not getting more referrals. They
think it will happen automatically, but that's not how it
works. There could be a better relationship there."
10
| Greater Boston MD News
■ mdnewS.com
