USC Verdugo Hills Hospital’s Exclusive Physician Contract Sparks Debate
In that type of "closed" ICU, if patients with serious chronic health conditions are admitted and request their regular doctor, that physician may visit but cannot write or change orders without approval of the intensivist on duty.
Los Angeles Times:
As USC Verdugo Hills Restricts ICU To Contracted Physician Group, Area Docs Question Move
As USC Verdugo Hills Hospital implements an exclusive physician contract for pulmonary/critical care services in its intensive care unit, a debate over the pros and cons of exclusivity is playing out locally. In January, the hospital began a pilot program in which ICU patients would be treated exclusively by on-duty or on-call intensive care doctors — also called intensivists — belonging to Pasadena-based Foothill Pulmonary and Critical Care Consultants Medical Group. (Cardine, 10/25)
In other health system news —
Ventura County Star:
Ventura-Based Identity Medical Group Joins Dignity Health
The Ventura-based Identity Medical Group is joining Dignity Health and is changing its name to the Dignity Health Medical Group. The Ventura region’s Dignity Health Medical Group includes nine medical group locations and over 25 providers. With the addition of Identity Medical Group, the newly expanded Dignity Health Medical Group footprint will include over 50 providers and 15 convenient locations. ...Identity Medical Group offers adult, pediatric, and family medicine with offices in Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, and Santa Paula. Dignity Health Medical Group in the Ventura Region is a multi-specialty group with locations in Camarillo, Oxnard, and Thousand Oaks. (10/25)