THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603160345
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARIE JOYCE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
The parent company of Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters has purchased four pediatric practices in Hampton Roads and North Carolina, bringing 28 doctors and their 70,000 patients under the hospital's umbrella.
The move is designed to create an integrated system - one that offers everything from basic, front-line care to elaborate specialty surgery. Such a system, hospital administrators say, would be very attractive to insurance companies looking for partnerships.
``They know they have from A to Z for children'' when they sign up with the network, said Robert I. Bonar Jr., chief executive officer of Children's Health System, the parent company of Norfolk-based Children's Hospital.
The acquisition doesn't mean any changes for patients and their parents, at least not right away. In theory, it could eventually lead to less paperwork and lower costs.
``This is going to be completely transparent to patients who are already seeing these pediatricians,'' Bonar said. ``Kids now will continue to see the same doctors they've always seen, in the same locations.''
The four practices are: Pediatric Diagnostic Center in Norfolk; Pediatric Specialists, with offices in Norfolk and Chesapeake; Tidewater Children's Associates in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake; and Coastal Pediatrics in Elizabeth City and Kitty Hawk.
For the past few years, CHKD and Children's Health System have been making strategic moves to stay competitive as managed care changes the delivery of health care.
Managed care aims to restrain costs by emphasizing prevention, reducing hospital stays, and limiting patient access to expensive specialists.
The doctors in the acquired practices will become employees of Children's Medical Group, an affiliate of Children's Health System recently set up to, among other things, acquire and run practices.
Eventually, Bonar said, patients of these doctors may benefit by having less paperwork to deal with. CHKD is trying to move to a ``paperless'' system, in which documentation is handled by a computer system.
For example, a parent whose child is referred for tests elsewhere could make the appointment while standing at the receptionist's desk in the doctor's office.
Bonar also said that the practices will enjoy lower costs because they'll be able to buy supplies in bulk. That savings might bring down the cost of office visits, although, he said, ``I don't know the answer to that yet.''
And the doctors' group will investigate opening satellite offices in Hampton Roads neighborhoods that don't have ready access to a pediatrician's office. ILLUSTRATION: [side bar]
[Which Doctors]
[for complete list, see microfilm]
by CNB