There’s an old saying that a person doesn’t really want a drill, they want a hole. I actually think there’s yet another level of thinking – why do they want the hole? Perhaps it’s to hang a painting.
The same idea holds true with many healthcare structures, whether it’s an IPA, a clinically integrated network (a “CIN” – which they might be if they’re not structured right!), and so on.
These really aren’t destinations. In our metaphor, they aren’t the painting on the wall. In fact, they’re not even the hole.
What they are is the drill. They’re tools that describe a method of getting you to the business entity or outcome that you seek to create or achieve. They’re not ends in and of themselves.
On the one hand, you can view this as a mini-lecture on the fact that business structures are tools to achieve your desired end.
But my main point is somewhat different: What’s most important for you is to first decide what it is, on a business level, that you’re trying to achieve.
Forget for the moment (but only for the moment!) about legal structure and compliance and the fact that it’s a “fill in the blank” such as a CIN.
Instead, simply concentrate on what it is, bottom line, that you want to achieve.
Then, and only then, should we ask the question of what tool or tools . . . the specific structure or structures . . . can be applied to get you there.
