Which Type of Medical Group Provides Higher-Quality Care?
Authors: Lawrence P. Casalino
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2006)

Editorials5 December 2006Which Type of Medical Group Provides Higher-Quality Care?Lawrence P. Casalino, MD, PhDLawrence P. Casalino, MD, PhDFrom University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-145-11-200612050-00012 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail The quality of medical care depends on the individual physician and on the organization in which he or she works (1–3). In this issue, Mehrotra and colleagues (4) compare 3 types of physician organizations—medical groups, independent practice associations (IPAs), and “hybrids”—on 6 measures of quality. Medical groups are usually defined as organizations in which 3 or more physicians share facilities, staff, and income. Independent practice associations are organizations that contract with health maintenance organizations (HMOs) on behalf of large numbers of medical groups and 1- and 2-physician practices (5, 6). Hybrids, a term coined by the investigators, are organizations that ...References1. Dudley RA, Landon BE, Rubin HR, Keating NL, Medlin CA, Luft HS. Assessing the relationship between quality of care and the characteristics of health care organizations. Med Care Res Rev. 2000;57 Suppl 2 116-35. [PMID: 11105509] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Landon BE, Wilson IB, Cleary PD. A conceptual model of the effects of health care organizations on the quality of medical care. JAMA. 1998;279:1377-82. [PMID: 9582046] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Lawrence DM. Chronic disease care: rearranging the deck chairs [Editorial]. Ann Intern Med. 2005;143:458-9. [PMID: 16172444] LinkGoogle Scholar4. Mehrotra A, Epstein AM, Rosenthal MB. 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Casalino, MD, PhD, Department of Health Studies, University of Chicago, 5841 South Maryland Avenue, MC 2007, Room W256, Chicago, IL 60637; e-mail, [email protected]bsd.uchicago.edu. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoDo Integrated Medical Groups Provide Higher-Quality Medical Care than Individual Practice Associations? Ateev Mehrotra , Arnold M. Epstein , and Meredith B. 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