Primary PartnerCare Physician’s Partnership

As a primary care physician for 30+ years, I have seen firsthand how complex and time consuming the practice of medicine has become. Health Plans and Medicare now measure us on an ever growing list of quality measures and HCC coding compliance. Payors are moving to primary care-centric value-based models of reimbursement that only large primary care groups can benefit from. As doctors, we are faced with balancing the care of our patients with the growing administrative responsibility of running a practice. Whether we like it or not, medicine has become a "big business". PrimaryPartnerCare Physicians,PLLC is a single TIN, physician owned group of primary care physicians with an MSO that supports me so that I may continue to practice high quality, patient focused medicine. The group provides ongoing guidance and resources and affords every physician the protection of belonging to a large medical group.

With primary care identified as the nexus of improving quality of care and reducing costs, it is essential that practicing physicians have an infrastructure to support us during the multitude of changes taking place throughout the healthcare system. Primary PartnerCare provides the foundation that allows me to succeed in the new era of medicine. This is exactly what the field of private primary care needs to be sustainable into the future.

I am proud to be part of such an esteemed organization with like-minded peers that are devoted to delivering the highest quality care to their patients. Being part of the group provides colleagues and partners that I can share medical discussions as well as personal discussions about the challenges of medicine. The management team keeps me informed of changes and is there to help no matter what I need. I highly recommend joining Primary PartnerCare Physicians.

I could not be prouder of my colleagues and how we all came together to work in the Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO. It's been 10 years, and we are going strong. Year over year we have the highest quality scores in the state and make significant shared savings, a testimony to the care we provide as physicians and the management team that advocates for us and believes in primary care. As we continue to evolve, and the "supergroup" of doctors grows, I am proud and privileged to have the opportunity to prove the value of the doctor-patient relationship; to build an organization where medicine is a profession, not a job; and to continue to truly love being a physician. There is no better profession in the world.

Primary PartnerCare is more than an IPA or ACO. I recently lost my biller, which happens in smaller practices, and Primary PartnerCare immediately filled the gap by supplying a replacement that not only kept my billing & collections whole, but found extra monies my practice was entitled to. Julianna allowed me to focus on my patients, and avoid a potential nightmare of delayed billing and all that snowballs from there. I am grateful to Primary PartnerCare and all they do.

Since I have no interest in being employed by a hospital or mega group, I am very pleased with my decision to join PrimaryPartner Care because I feel I now have the best of both worlds. The PrimaryPartner Care organization works hard to continually update both myself and staff as to the changes that are occurring within Medicare, and because the ACO was designed specifically for primary care physicians, I feel I personally benefit from the resources they allocate to help us remain current with those changes. Additionally I recognize that I am in a position to feel more secure about my income by participating in an ACO because I am relieved from facing the uncertainty regarding the Medicare fee schedule that my colleagues who chose otherwise now face and recognize the important advantages going forward that this ACO provides a solo or small group physician in this rapidly changing healthcare marketplace.

Since 1985, when HMOs first penetrated New York, we have heard about the changing paradigm of healthcare delivery. During this period, the corporate vegamatic has sliced and diced every insurance plan into a multitude of sizes, shapes and forms, all with the promise of better and more efficient healthcare. Yet, a quarter of a century later we have made little progress. During this period, primary care has been repeatedly extolled as the linchpin to solve the puzzle of cost containment and quality. As a reward for such efficiencies, we were lavished with lower reimbursements, increased overhead and set adrift to drown in a sea of red tape. Here in 2012, primary care has taken center stage again, but now with different nametags such as ACO's and patient centered medical homes. Unfortunately many of the organizations developing these programs are not primary care driven. The primary care physician will again be in the position of lowering costs and improving quality for another's profit. So the final question to ask yourself before you sign into any program is simple. If primary care physicians are responsible for the success of a program how are they represented throughout management and governance? I have asked myself that question, and that is why I co-founded and continue to help lead the Primary PartnerCare IPA/ACO.