There are many reasons that New West Physicians continues to forge a path as a ‘privately owned’ physician group; however, the primary reason is to always maintain the ability to do the right thing for our patients – free of outside influence that might affect patient quality and efficiency of care.
Recent trends of hospital systems acquiring medical practices in an effort to reduce costs, improve quality and integrate care are worthy goals; however, recent studies show a different result. According to a recent article in the Medical Practice Insider, “The results, published in the Journal of American Medical Association, showed that hospital-owned physician practices had total spending on average at least 10 percent higher than independent practices, across professional, hospital, laboratory, pharmaceutical and ancillary services.” In multi-hospital systems spending is 20 percent higher. In 2012, the physician owned practices had an average expenditure of $3066 per patient. The hospital owned practice was $1246 higher and the multi-hospital system was $1710 higher than the physician owned practices. Hospitals add a hospital fee to services provided, which in many cases is an unnecessary fee. For patients participating in high deductible health plans, they will see this extra charge in their medical expenses. Often times this charge could have been avoided if the patient was able to have services provided outside of the hospital system.
Nicole Dorotik, MD
Arvada Family Practice
Finance Chairman
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