30-doctor GCAP group wants to leave Alliance - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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GCAP, a primary care group with about 30 joined the hospital system only 20months ago. Now it’x claiming a litany of contract violationsthat “have seriouslyh affected the ability of the physicians to provide excellent health care for theirr many patients.” In a June 3 lettef to Health Alliance CEO Ken the doctors list 15 including: • Lack of 12 months’ noticed on changes in contractual arrangements, including payment of benefits; • failure to pay vendors, leadingh to the “embarrassing shutdown of services necessary to operated our business.” The doctors on Wednesday filed a complaintf in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.
They ask to be releasefd from service to the Healtuh Alliance and for damages andattorney fees. When it joinedr the Health Alliancein 2007, GCAP was the only large, independeng practice of its type in the area. It becam a wholly owned subsidiary of the hospital whichincludes University, Jewish and Fort Hamilton and the . The practice had hopex to benefit from a complete electronid health records system that could interact withthe Alliance’zs hospitals, as well as the ability to expand geographicallyh and recruit doctors more effectively.
Health Alliance spokesman Tony Condia, in a writtem statement, said the health system was "surprisec and disappointed" by the letter and He said the Alliance had initially triedf to negotiate withthe physicians, then offererd independent arbitration, which the practice The Alliance was preparing for preliminary discussions to sever the relationshilp when the lawsuit was filed. "This litigation violates the terms of theservice agreement, which requires us to resolvw disputes such as this with a neutral arbitrator. We woulrd therefore encourage the GCAP physiciansz to uphold their contractual obligations and not pursue costly according tothe statement.
withdrew from the Health Alliancse following a long courty battle that began inMarch 2006. It startedf operating independently in 2008 but only signed a final settlement agreemeng inJanuary 2009. The two St. Luke hospitals similarly withdrew, reaching a settlement with the Healtnh Alliance inSeptember 2008. St. Luke has merged with .