Summa ED contract

[GXA]

Any of you familiar with the situation faced by the Summa ED docs?

http://gruntdoc.com/2017/01/the-rape-of-emergency-medicine-2017-version.html#sthash.1L4yg8A6.fojphBSD.dpbs

Be sure to check out some of the comments after the article.

[The White Coat Investor]

I'm going to have to give Jeff a call. He was in my class in med school. I'd heard about this via the SDN forum:

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/why-are-we-not-discussing-this-cmgs-gobbling-up-sdgs.1234013/page-3

but forgot that was his group.

[VagabondMD]

Brutal! This kind of thing is happening more and more. With more VC money coming into healthcare, you can be pretty sure that physicians are going to be on the losing end of some of these deals.

[The White Coat Investor]

The more I think about this the madder I'm getting. Corporate medicine basically just nuked a residency program.

[Zaphod]

Seems people are very emotional and maybe rightly so. The thing about the wife being on the board/voting if true is absolutely unacceptable and definitely amenable by litigation. However, we certainly dont know the reality of whats going on, contract negotiations, etc...There must have been a serious impasse or obvious disagreement for it to transition so poorly.

Then when you see the patient care, untrained docs, etc...you know theres a lot of emotion and not rational stuff happening. Even if med students were being monitored by a few second year residents you'd be shocked at how hard it is to just have people keeling over left and right unless its a busy level 1 trauma center. We all like to think we're the most competent people around sure, but reality is usually different.

Since I dont know the details of this particular situation this rant is in general. I dont know what it will take for doctors to unite and stand up against someone. They usually are fine with joining the fight against their best interests anyway. We're all trained to follow orders and complete things and as long as its structured that way we fall in line, even when it makes no sense. Idk if that board certification thing is still a controversy but thats a fitting analogy. Docs going after MOC only, still swallowing the marketing that being BC matters in some way, shape or form and that will only result in a serpentine path to the same problems later on, MOC isnt the disease its the symptom. Not a lot of hope they wake up now. Hopefully we do before the corporations make it so we are no longer the only obstacle standing in the way of payment, we literally have all the power in that no billing can occur without us. Yet, no one wants to use it, so its used against us. Had a large impact on choosing my specialty so I could remain in private practice no matter how socialized or corporatized medicine became.

[VagabondMD]

^^

The opposition to MOC has led to some meaningful changes in the board recertification process. Even a loosely-organized, grass roots movement was able to move the needle significantly. I agree that we could use a unified voice and a more organized opposition to the nonsense. Doctors are so fragmented in their interests and their attitudes. Most (me included) do not have the energy to fight the fight. Maybe it is just not miserable enough yet. Some of you younger folks are going to have to lead the charge.

[GXA]

I heard the Bagnoli's donated a significant amount to the hospital/foundation.  The plot continues to thicken.

[GoBills]

Don't believe any of these rumors.  My understanding is that the current group was very demanding during negotiations, demanding a 10 year non-revocable contract, which is unheard of.  The standard contract in er is for three years. Hospital got angry when talks turned sour, and asked for competing bids from several companies in the last week of December, and USACs bid when asked.  when calmer heads prevail they will realize that the last thing anyone would want would be to pick up an er contract where they have to staff several ers on only 3 day notice, over the holidays.  The whole situation is a mess, but clearly something went very bad between the old group and the hospital for this to happen.

[The White Coat Investor]

Here's a bit of an update, published in ACEP NOW. I'm told it's "mostly accurate."

http://www.acepnow.com/article/summa-transition-directly-principals/

I think it's pretty clear who the guilty parties are. They basically never met face to face with the group until they had already met with the corporate EM group CEO (who happened to be married to the hospital CMO.)

[Zaphod]

Their first offer was a 15 year contract? Why something so outrageous and what sounds like out of standard practice? Their talks per that article with the other company happened almost two weeks after the first round of negotiations. This kind of pitting of groups against each other until all pay is lowered is likely to continue in all fields I fear.

[GXA]

Looks like the residents and other staff at Summa have made an impact...

Summa CEO Thomas Malone resigns http://www.ohio.com/business/summa-ceo-thomas-malone-resigns-1.743267

[Zaphod]

GXA wrote:

Looks like the residents and other staff at Summa have made an impact…

Summa CEO Thomas Malone resigns http://www.ohio.com/business/summa-ceo-thomas-malone-resigns-1.743267

Click to expand...

Im really surprised the board allowed this huge conflict of interest from the wife/ceo whatever connection at the other corporate ER group. that is just inviting disaster, and this CEO paid for it, but probably wont be the extent of it. Especially as it seems the person on the board is the one that has real explaining to do. CEO ousts are quite often for show. Then to have this conflict of interest lead to basically what appeared from the outside as a middle of the night coup? I mean what we're they thinking? That no one would say anything or put up a stink. Just bad decision making all around.

[jhwkr542]

Sad fallout for these ER residents who are getting a crash course in the business side of medicine:

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/summa-health-loses-accreditation-for-emergency-medicine-residency-program-1.746245

[pulmdoc]

Wow, just wow. Sounds like a lose-lose situation all around. Read the ACEP interviews and it sounds like both sides decided to play chicken. Not starting negotiations until Thanksgiving when SEA wanted to get out of/get stipends for multiple money losing ED's seems foolish, it takes time to do these negotiations. Asking for a 15 year contract isn't productive. Obviously not having a face to face meeting until 5 days before expiration and already having negotiated with USACS is bad faith. So everybody looks bad, SEA docs are out of a job, CEO resigns, residency program dies.

[VagabondMD]

I just read on Sermo that Summa dumped their pulmonary/critical care group and replaced them with NPs!  :x