Wednesday, May 21, 2014

I was surfing through LinkedIn and came across a person with the following position: Vice President, Physician Alignment.


My first thought was how generous it was for this hospital system/ACO to offer chiropractic services for its doctors!

But then I realized that the job of this person was different.  It is something about ensuring that physicians behave in such a manner as to optimize the bottom line of the ACO.

There's a whole gaggle of business consultants in this arena, complete with graphic presentations that are portrayed as meaning something.


Here's a job description of someone who reports to a VP for Physician Alignment:

Reporting to the Vice President of Physician Alignment and System of Care, directs the operations and programs of the PHO including but not limited to its risk-based and Clinical Integration programs. Administers all aspects of the PHO’s capitated risk and Clinical Integration contracts, in a manner to ensure contractual obligations are met and optimal financial, clinical, and stakeholder satisfaction results are achieved. Collaborates with ACO leadership, physicians, ancillary departments, affiliates, and community-based health care providers to develop and provide effective integrated-care delivery for ACO’s covered populations.

I remain a skeptic about all this stuff. It all seems driven by the money, the bottom line. Sure, there are always a few words about "integrated care delivery."  But I don't believe that it is motivational to most doctors to be told that they must "align."

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