Prepare for contracting challenges during mergers, consolidations

Increasingly, hospitals are purchasing physician practices and building physician networks. The integration process poses numerous challenges for managed care contracting, including the recontracting of all payer contracts, physician credentialing, and changes in physician compensation packages.

“Physician integration has come back with a vengeance, but hospitals are taking a much more calculated approach in stepping back into this arena,” says Anthony G. Mina, MBA, CMPE, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Transylvania Physician Services, Inc., a physician network affiliated with Transylvania Community Hospital in Brevard, NC.