Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/619635
BY THOMAS CROCKER Partnering with Clinicians on Clinical Integration TO NAVIGATE CLINICAL INTEGR ATION OR CONSOLIDATION SUCCESSFULLY, E XPERTS ADVISE HOSPITAL AND HE ALTH SYSTEM ADMINISTR ATORS TO ADOPT AN APPROACH THAT PL ACES CLINICIANS AT THE CENTER OF SHAPING AND DRIVING THAT CHANGE. THE TRENDS OF clinical integration and hospital acquisitions and mergers seem as if they will extend at least into the foresee- able future. Nearly 100 hospital consolidations took place per year in 2013 and 2014, and these numbers aren't expected to decrease: Moody's predicts an above-average number of hospital acquisitions and mergers will occur every year until 2017. "At the core of what's going on in health care is really the transference of fi nancial risk," says Dan Malloy, PhD, Executive Vice President of Quantia Inc., a company that helps health systems, the pharmaceutical industry, the medical technol- og y industry and physicians engage with each other. "The system has been dominated by fee-for-service medicine for a long time, and what's occurring is payers, employers and the federal government are forcing the system to bring e¬ ciency to the model. Every organization and every health system, whether it's a stand-alone hospital or one that's part of an integrated delivery system, is under enormous pressure to bring cost-consciousness to the market and demonstrate — under the guise of value-based purchasing logic — how it will be an e• ective partner with these payers." THE SPECTER OF AN UNHEARD VOICE Clinical integration and consolidation can benefi t physicians in a number of ways. As part of a larger organization, they are likely to have greater leverage in negotiations with payers, as well as gain access to clinical trials, leading-edge protocols, advanced equipment and a wider network of colleagues. However, large- scale reorganization also elicits concern from physicians. "Like all professionals, we physicians want at least infl uence, if not outright control, over how our patients receive their care and Better Together: 1 6❱❱❱❱❱ S P E C I A L F E A T U R E 1 6