Does the hospital want a relationship with your group or does it just want a transaction?
One of the key elements in the changing healthcare market is the fact that there is a growing desire on the part of many facilities to devalue the relationship aspects of their dealings with physician groups.
Instead, they view those dealings on a transactional basis. Think about the difference between “Let’s align our interests!” and “What have you done for me lately?”
It’s funny timing, though, because hospitals are spending so damn much money and so damn much energy trying to convince physicians, politicians and the public that healthcare will be advanced through physician “alignment.”
They send their administrators to flavor-of-the-day seminars on alignment strategies and they issue press releases on how well healthcare collaboration is working. Yet at the same time, these same facilities are working hard to destroy decades long relationships with providers, both hospital based and office based, turning to price based competitors who are sometimes willing to lose money to garner market share, setting up their investors’ exit strategy.
Is this the great schizophrenia or the great hypocrisy?
