Legal Affairs: CMS publishes new exceptions and several clarifications to Stark Law, see page 2
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The Leading Source for Healthcare Business News
December 2015 • Volume 12, Issue 8 • $3.50
Preventing physician merger hiccups down
the road
INSIDE
▼
Hyperbaric chambers
delivered to Methodist
Hospital for surgery
see page 3
INDEX
▼
Legal Affairs......................2
Technology......................3
Integrative Medicine.........4
Hospital Headlines..........6
THA................................7
Moving On Up.................8
BY REED TINSLEY, CPA,
CVA, CFP, CHBC
So
you
have
decided
to enter into a merger.
Congratulations, you have
completed tireless hours of
feasibility analysis and chosen
your partners with the utmost care. But
your work is far from over.
Beyond this groundwork is the intensive
task of planning how to merge. The
managers have to work out what is going to
happen when they switch the lights on in
the new group, and they have to plan how
they are going to answer the phone, how to
handle medical records, billing, employee
benefits, and day-to-day operations.
Although a consultant or merger facilitator
can help groups with such decisions, I
always recommend forming a committee
or work group—or several for a large
merger—that will meet regularly for at least
six months before the expected go- live
date. Work group members should include
administrators, managers, physicians, and
perhaps some staff members.
These
individuals
are
charged
with
analyzing each group’s employee manuals,
processes, and finances to arrive at uniform
policies and procedures that make the most
of each group’s strengths. For example,
the committee may discover that group A
Please see FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVES page 13
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Breaking Ground: Houston Methodist Primary Care Group celebrates the
opening of their new location near Sienna Plantation
Spirituality in health care
see page 4
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Houston Methodist Primary Care Group
celebrated the official opening of its new
location near Sienna Plantation, Lake
Olympia, and Riverstone with an open
house enjoyed by over 250 attendees.
Stephen Spielman (l), President of Houston Methodist Primary Care Group
and Allen Owen (r), Mayor of Missouri City
The new facility – located at 8330 Highway
Please see BREAKING GROUND page 18
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
PAID
HOUSTON TX
PERMIT NO 13187