News Releases

Memorial Hermann Creates New Affiliate Company To Integrate Physician And Hospital Care
Selected Doctors Join Memorial Hermann Medical Group

Houston, Texas, September 12, 2006 – Memorial Hermann is collaborating with physicians to streamline the business of medicine and enhance patient care. A new affiliate company – Memorial Hermann Medical Group – will facilitate the member physicians’ ability to successfully grow their practices.

Ernest Bartimmo, M.D.

“This Medical Group allows doctors to spend more time practicing medicine and less time worrying about running businesses,” said David Whalen, Memorial Hermann’s chief business development officer.

Physicians who choose to join Memorial Hermann Medical Group benefit from Memorial Hermann’s experience with billing, collections, insurance reimbursement contracts, medical records maintenance and information technology. The Group is governed by a physician board.

“Medicine in this day of managed care and government regulations is a very complex business,” said medical director Ernest Bartimmo, M.D. “This collaboration between physicians and hospitals facilitates the delivery of healthcare through integration of resources. By emphasizing the strengths of the partners, the patient is the ultimate winner.”

“I have enjoyed running my own practice for 25 years, but the changing business landscape of medicine makes it very hard for solo physicians to stay afloat financially,” explained Jon Peterson, M.D., a family practitioner among the first to join the Group as part of Memorial City Medical. “Clearly, the model for physicians in the future is the type of integration we are undertaking with Memorial Hermann. This affiliation lowers our costs and gives us some clout to negotiate better reimbursement rates.”

Memorial Hermann will also standardize quality measures across the system, establishing a continuum of top-quality care from physicians’ offices to operating rooms to rehabilitation centers, added Carol Paret, Memorial Hermann’s vice president of clinical effectiveness and management.

Select physicians at Memorial Hermann’s Northwest, Southwest and Memorial City campuses already have joined the Group, which is planning for aggressive growth.

For more information, contact Media Relations.