SACRAMENTO: MedClinic Extends Contract With CHW for Two Years
MedClinic Medical Group, one of Sacramento's oldest and largest physician networks, announced last week that it has extended its deal with Catholic Health Care West Medical Foundation by two years. The deal ends speculation that MedClinic would drop CHW management and support services in favor of a new partner that might bring the network "in line financially." Officials at Mercy Healthcare Sacramento, which oversees CHW's Sacramento division, stated, "The agreement assures the continuity of care for approximately 120,000 Sacramentans who have MedClinic physicians who practice at Mercy Hospitals." Under the new agreement, doctors are "at slightly more [financial] risk than they have been in the past," according to CHW and MedClinic spokesperson Karen Burkhardt, who added that "if the physicians do a good job of managing patients' care appropriately and well, they will do fine financially." CHW Sacramento losses of $20.3 million last year prompted MedClinic officials to consider a change in partnership. But now the "financial picture is brightening" as Mercy Healthcare Sacramento, which recently assumed management of the Sacramento doctor groups, reduced operating costs by 30% (Fisher, Sacramento Bee, 11/2).
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