Physician owned ACOs

[IDBasco]

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Why wouldn't it work for physician super groups, say 200-1000 members strong with all specialties represented to start their own ACOs? Then take it another step further and go straight to the patients, eliminating "third party" by having pts pay into the group directly for care instead of insurance. So much overhead could be eliminated. Then set the whole thing up as a non-profit which could lower costs further (taxes). It would be like cash-only concierge medicine on steroids.

Docs can't own a hospital, but why can't they own the patients? What patient wouldn't like to ditch their insurance and deal directly with the docs? Hospitals can screw a few docs at a time, but they can't screw a huge group simultaneously. Who needs a union for docs? Just own the patients. Yeah, its more complicated than I am making it sound, but if others can start ACOs, it ain't rocket science.

OK tell me what I am missing here.

 

[pd4emergence]

Two reasons....physicians generally don't work well together and are not very good business people.

 

[IDBasco]

Well the business acumen thing is easy to get around. Some of us did that first.

Second, is the alternative better than working with other docs?

I don't know, I just feel that if doctors are willing to just roll over and take it, they probably deserve whatever they get.

 

[PinchandBurn]

Why wouldn't it work for physician super groups, say 200-1000 members strong with all specialties represented to start their own ACOs? Then take it another step further and go straight to the patients, eliminating "third party" by having pts pay into the group directly for care instead of insurance. So much overhead could be eliminated. Then set the whole thing up as a non-profit which could lower costs further (taxes). It would be like cash-only concierge medicine on steroids.

Docs can't own a hospital, but why can't they own the patients? What patient wouldn't like to ditch their insurance and deal directly with the docs? Hospitals can screw a few docs at a time, but they can't screw a huge group simultaneously. Who needs a union for docs? Just own the patients. Yeah, its more complicated than I am making it sound, but if others can start ACOs, it ain't rocket science.

OK tell me what I am missing here.

what you are posing makes a lot of sense.

Unfortunately docs dont think like this. They should though.

The other issue, is getting priveleges at a hospital. I think if you are a surgeon or a pain doc,etc, you need ot have 'priveleges' at a nearby hospital even if you are working solely at a ASC. The problem is that I've heard, often times hospital guys can try to 'block' your priveleges. Additionally, if you ever get denied priveledges at a hospital, you have to mark that off on the questionairre.

Having said that there is something called IPA, independent practice associations, which is similar to what you are describing.