It seemed we were at last going to land on our feet. The offer After coffee and dessert, we finally got down to the details, what we could do for them and what they could do for us. They agreed to match our current salaries, and we offered them our many years of clinical experience in primary care in a managed care setting. I would be set up in new practices placed in areas near the hospital that were ripe for growth and development. The MSO's representatives said they had carefully marked out the demographics and knew where they needed and wanted to be.
Huge organizations suffer constant attacks of analysis paralysis and acute bottom-line myopia.
I had previously been involved with pharmaceutical management and information systems, so I was happy to hear the MSO promise me Internet access, computerized billing and, eventually, computerized patient records. A colleague who had been key to utilization management in the hospital was promised full support in managing the HMO risk contracts that the MSO would be negotiating for us. He could continue his success in managing cost savings for the hospital in terms of lengths of stay and overall utilization. Another colleague, formerly a center medical director, was promised full control in setting up and managing his new office, including choosing his practice site. We would also have access to a network of primary care physicians, which we could help organize into a more efficient system.