Hospitals & Health Networks interviewed Manatt's Thomas Enders, a senior managing director with Manatt Health, for an article on the ways that hospitals can approach clinical integration.
Hospitals & Health Networks reports that clinical integration is a challenging mix of clinical, financial, interpersonal and regulatory elements among physicians and hospitals, which, when united into a network, are meant to improve the patient experience. Clinical integration links all or most of the health care components a patient might encounter: physician practices for primary and specialty care, hospitals for acute or chronic conditions that erupt, and post-acute care for conditions of aging or recovery from illness. Independent physicians can be a key component. If these doctors are not brought into a close relationship with the others, the network's improvement aims may not be possible.
And physician buy-in isn't always easy. After spending considerable time developing their practices, "they're risk-averse and they're cautious, and they want to see demonstrable value," said Enders.