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The Memphis medical community is full of promise, and problems, the most obvious of which is a lack of connectivity. It’s true, the local medical industry is endeavoring into a sort of renaissance through combined efforts to improve citizen health, but clinicians realize the vital need for more partnered organization. After all, individuals can only do so much; it takes the unification of many to make a greater impact. For that reason, in February, the Bluff City Medical Society officially aligned as an Independent Physician Association (IPA). This makes them the first non-pediatric multi-specialty IPA in Memphis.

The Bluff City Medical Society was founded in 1885 by a group of African-American physicians with the purpose of promoting wellness education and decreasing healthcare disparities between African-Americans and non-African Americans. While the organization has grown to more than 200 members, the current president, internist with Collierville Medical Specialists Dr. Henry Stamps, realized membership didn’t pack as much of a punch as an association of separate entities.

Combining forces as an IPA, he said, “allows us to speak with one collective voice to the public and to insurance companies, which will help us get the healthcare disparities gap narrowed to a more acceptable level.”

“We think we’ll have more influence as an IPA, a group of 200 physicians, rather than a single physician,” said Stamps.

Bill Appling, principal of J. William Appling and Associates, facilitated Bluff City’s clinical integration plan. It began a year and a half ago, he said, when talks centered on being proactive in the future with continuous changes on the local, state and national levels which will have a dramatic impact on patient care, such as pay-for-performance, Medicare changes and electronic interconnectivity.

“(Bluff City) developed a plan to become an IPA and invest in opportunities in the electronic health interchange to discuss with payers on contracting,” Appling said. “This also brings standardization on clinical outcomes and quality.”

As an IPA, Bluff City Medical Group now has greater leverage in negotiating insurance reimbursements. In addition, it is affording members a more active role to venture into opportunities for incorporating and sharing electronic medical records (EMR) with reduced overhead costs and assistance in e-prescribing, electronic interchanges and other infrastructure issues.

“I’m enthusiastic and extremely optimistic the Bluff City Medical Society will have a positive impact on the community,” said Appling.

Bluff City is also a member of the Aligning Forces for Quality campaign through a grant received by the Healthy Memphis Common Table (HMCT) from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This grant was awarded to Memphis in late 2006 as a pilot market for the purpose of dramatically improving the care of those with chronic illnesses in the community. The structure of the program, explained Cristie Upshaw Travis, CEO of the Memphis Business Group on Health, involves a consumer engagement strategy that is looking to align people with their healthcare providers in a strong partnership, and to encourage people to have an active role in their healthcare.

“It’s not just about the doctors,” she explained. “But how (people) can better manage their own healthcare.”

The program’s key strategy includes a public reporting system for physician performance which not only equips patients with ways to better manage their conditions, but enforces an understanding of what good quality care is and where to find it. Physicians will also participate in a quality improvement network which utilizes best practices from the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA).

“Doctors will have the opportunity to see where improvement (is needed) and the patient will be more comfortable with asking for what they need.”

The Bluff City Medical Society has always worked, Stamps said, to positively impact health in the community through health forums and public screenings. For instance, they have been working on an obesity initiative along all specialties in order to reduce the burden of diabetes, hypertension and cancer on the community.

“A lot of individuals are walking around with problems until they end up in acute care,” observed Stamps. “We need to identify them and get them early on.”

“Our specialties will come together and have more dialog between entities, (allowing us) to track patients better between specialties,” Stamps continued. “We can take advantage of the grant (program) from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to track trends of what we’re doing, if we’re making a positive impact on the community.”



April 2008

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