BWH Physicians Organization- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
BWH Physicians Organization- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
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January 21, 2000
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In This Issue:
Leadership embraced
BWH Physicians Organization
New Process for Bedside Glucose Testing
SJPHC honors social worker Nancy MacDougall
Pike Notes
Behavioral Neurology's anchor
Obituary
After three years of planning, BWH is taking the final steps toward establishing the Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization (BWPO), which would allow BWH to legally team up with MGH and PCHI to create a stronger voice in contract negotiations. The BWPO will be the new corporate home for the physicians in Medicine, Surgery, Anesthesia, Radiology, Pathology, Orthopedics, and Obstetrics and Gynecology who have previously been members of physician foundations, and it would centralize some of the administrative and compliance responsibilities that currently reside within each department. The new physician governed PO would alleviate anti-trust concerns that previously complicated cooperative business relationships between Brigham and Women’s physicians and the Massachusetts General Hospital physicians. The new structure would allow BWH physicians to join physicians Partners-wide to negotiate contracts with third-party payors. Although the primary reason for a BWPO is negotiation positioning, the PO is expected to reduce some of the administrative load currently borne by of each of the seven department foundations. The PO would provide central legal, accounting/audit, human resources, IS, and billing registration services. Billing, however, would continue to reside with each department foundation. The BWPO would not allow cost subsidy between departments. Each department is still expected to meet its own bottom line. Partners has provided $6 million and the BWH an additional $4 million toward developing the BWPO, which will be used to replace existing hardware with a state-of-the-art IDX platform and purchase new payroll and accounting systems among other initiatives. An important aspect of the BWPO is that the leadership of each of the departments would not change; department chairs and their division chiefs would still make all decisions about hiring staff and retain control of funds flow, including disbursement, compensation (both salary and benefits), and billing decisions. Many of the departments are currently having discussions about the PO and the changes necessary in the physician foundation bylaws to begin the BWPO. Physicians and staff should contact department administrators and the department chairs for more information. Physicians are invited to attend an information session on Monday, January 24, at 5 p.m. in Carrie Hall or on Thursday, January 27, at 7:30 a.m. in Pod B of the cafeteria.