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The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.
Mark Twain
On September 2, 1999, the California Medical Association released a highly publicized report entitled, "The Coming Medical Group Failure Epidemic."1 The report begins, "Mounting evidence collected by the California Medical Association now points to the imminent collapse of a key element in the state's health care delivery sys-tem . . . with as many as 90 percent of . . . phy- sician organizations in the state poised for bankruptcy or closure."
In 1998, the financial collapse of two large physician-practicemanagement companies, MedPartners and FPA Medical Management, left thousands of
The Group-Contracting Model
Are California's Physician Groups Failing?
Why Are Physician Groups in Trouble?
Reduced Payments from HMOs
Reduced Revenues from Hospital Risk Pools
Increased Expenses
Oral Medications
Injectable Drugs
Specialty Care
Poor Management
Impact on Physicians and Patients
What Might Happen Next?
The Future for Physician Groups
The Future for HMOs
The Future for Large Employers
Conclusions
References
This article has been cited by other articles:
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