Hospital Contracts with EmCare Emergency Physician Services
Raymond T. Hino, Chief Executive Officer of Bear
Valley Community Healthcare District announced Monday June 30, 2014, that the
District has reached an agreement with EmCare, one of the largest contract
providers of emergency physician services in the United States, to begin
providing emergency physician contract services beginning on July 15,
2014. With over 920 hospital contracts in the United States, including
many of the Nation’s Top 100 Hospitals, EmCare is the Country’s largest
provider of emergency medicine services with over 40 years of experience and
has an impeccable reputation for high quality emergency physician
services.
Southern California Hospitals
currently with EmCare for:
· Barstow Community
Hospital
· Citrus Valley
Medical Center – Intercommunity
· Citrus Valley
Medical Center – Queen of the Valley
· Lakewood Regional
Medical Center
· Lompoc Valley
Medical Center
· Marina Del
Rey Hospital
· Palmdale
Regional Medical Center
· Sierra View
District Hospital
We at Bear Valley Community Healthcare District were impressed
by EmCare’s dedication to high quality medical care and high quality customer
service.
Here are some of the programs that EmCare will be bringing to
BVCHD:
* Nursing support
provided by EmCare’s Director of Clinical Services, who provides in-service
training on EMTALA, compliance, risk management and documentation, conducts
operational assessments, recommends and implements initiatives to improve
efficiency, supports the implementation of new services, and provides
consultative services to the hospital’s ED nursing staff from the triage
process to the Joint Commission.
* Quality Management
Resources for operational efficiency and superior customer service including
LEAN, Studer Group and Fail-Safe
* Qualitick Bedside
patient experience data collection system using tablet computers
* CompleteCare, a
program by which a full time combined emergency department and
hospitalist physician practice
management service are combined into one, resulting in improved physician
satisfaction, patient satisfaction, clinical quality and continuity of care.
Frequently Asked Questions about the switch to EmCare:
* Did BVCHD terminate
the contract with previous emergency room physician group, Team Health?
No. Team
Health, gave 90-day notice of its right to terminate the ER group contract on
April 14, 2014. Team Health will conclude its service to BVCHD on July
15, 2014.
* Was EmCare the only
group that BVCHD considered?
No. BVCHD received proposals from 4 emergency group
physician companies. They were Team Health, EmCare, Valley Emergency
Physicians and HealthSource Partners.
* Will
EmCare be providing both the emergency physician group coverage and the
hospitalist physician coverage?
Yes. The
proposal from EmCare is to provide both emergency physician coverage and
hospitalist coverage. However, on July 15 only the emergency room
physician coverage will begin. Hospitalist coverage through EmCare will
not start until a mutually agreed upon time later in 2014.
* Will EmCare
physicians be good doctors?
Yes. EmCare
uses many of the same doctors that Team Health uses. 5 current ER doctors
have signed up to continue to provide services under EmCare when the new
contract starts on July 15.
All physicians must
be approved by the BVCHD Medical Staff Executive Committee and the Board of
Directors prior to working here.
The Medical
Executive Committee and Board of Directors require verification of training,
recent hospital experience in the relevant area and Board certification (or
Board eligibility) for all physicians that apply for privileges at BVCHD.
Additionally, the
MEC and Board of Directors will be evaluating track record, including any
malpractice experience.
* Will all EmCare
emergency room physicians be Board Certified in emergency medicine?
No. EmCare has the same practice that Team
Health is currently using. That is that all emergency room physicians
must be Board certified in a relevant specialty field (emergency medicine,
internal medicine, family medicine) and must demonstrate
recent experience working in a hospital emergency room department.
Therefore, currently not all Team Health doctors are Board certified in
emergency medicine and EmCare will follow the same policy that Team Health
followed.