"The project wasn’t going all that well because we realized how complex it was to tie the groups together, even in a smaller town like Abilene," Dr. Malone said.
Since then they’ve scaled back the project, but they are still committed to testing the concept, he said.
The formation of the physician services organization in Texas is "very encouraging," said Paul B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., president of the Center for Studying Health System Change, a nonpartisan policy research organization. The question, he said, is whether the Physician Services Organization for Patient Care will be as successful in helping physicians to remain in private practice as the Independent Practice Associations (IPAs) that have developed in states like California and Massachusetts.
"I do believe that health care markets, particularly hospital markets, will be much more competitive if physicians are in physician organizations rather than hospital employees," Dr. Ginsburg said.
mschneider@frontlinemedcom.com
On Twitter @MaryEllenNY