If my memory of Obamacare is correct, the goal is for the Medical Home model, everyone works for the hospital, which takes responsibility for setting the priorities and guidelines for local healthcare.

The government would rather only deal with the hospital instead of all the doctors. Basically, your income will be based on how politically powerful you are within the hospital, as we will be fighting over the budget for providers.

The hospitals see that they need to start buying up a critical mass of the providers now to get market share compared to other hospitals.

If there is no competition between hospitals and your practice is dependent on hospital access/referrals/procedures, then your practice might not be worth as much later on.


Dan
Rheumatology