Groups want to support independent physicians

Doctors reflect range of practice models

A group of local independent physicians is collaborating with the Allegheny County Medical Society to foster and support doctors as they start or sustain an independent practice.

In a release Wednesday, the Independent Medical Doctors of Western Pennsylvania said its members reflect the wide range of medical practice models that have emerged in recent years, including direct pay and concierge practices.

The group said “a number of doctors” moved to these new models in response to the eight-year contract dispute between the

Pittsburgh region’s two largest health systems — UPMC and Highmark Health’s Allegheny Health Network.

“We are reinventing the traditional medical society model to serve all physicians in Allegheny County, including those that work in major health systems,” said Jeremy Bonfini, CEO of the Allegheny County Medical Society, the major local professional association for physicians.

Mr. Bonfini said there are about 900 independent physicians practicing in the Pittsburgh region, but he estimates that represents only about 10% of all physicians and 90% are employed by networks such as UPMC or Allegheny Health Network.

That compares with a national 50-50 independent-employed split, he added. “We are probably one of

the most consolidated health care markets in the United States as it relates to physician employment.”

As part of the two-year collaboration agreement, the medical society has relaunched a group purchasing program “to ensure access to quality products at a fair price,” said Adele Towers, associate professor of medicine and psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and medical society board chair.

Mr. Bonfini said the program, launched in 1979, had not gone away completely, but the need for a purchasing group declined after 2012 as more physicians became employed and didn’t need to purchase medical equipment or professional liability insurance for their practice.

Physician Alan Yeasted, who is chairing the medical society’s new independent practice special committee, said the committee will also address regulatory and payment issues that independent physicians face.