In the state's Basic Health Plan, for residents without Medicare or comprehensive health insurance, Medalia services are offered through four different insurers. Also, Medalia refers its patients to numerous community hospitals, not just the Providence and Franciscan hospitals in the region. It's an interesting strategy. Competitors such as the Group Health-Virginia Mason alliance and Health Washington are taking notes on Medalia, but don't sound threatened. Medalia, she says, will seek to distinguish itself from HMOs and other competitors that don't specialize in primary-care services.
Primary care ranges from family checkups to minor surgeries.
Values definitely Catholic Medalia was formally launched in January 1995 when Providence spun off its 12 clinics and the Franciscans another three. The company has played Pac-Man ever since last year, gobbling up 24 more clinics, as independent physicians seek to join organizations like Medalia to survive a future dominated by managed care. Medalia hopes to grow from 270 doctors to 390 by 1999, Rorem says. The clinics' doctors come from different faiths, but the organization's values are definitely Catholic. Women seeking abortions, for example, are referred outside the system.