Nueterra creates physician services company

Kansas City Business Journal
Wednesday, December 15, 2010

 

Nueterra Cos. has formed a new physician services company that will help clients stay independent and get ready for the effects of health care reform.

The Leawood-based company said Wednesday that Nueterra Health Alliance would offer a variety of services, including setting up electronic health records and consulting about how to reduce practice costs.

Here's the company's release:

LEAWOOD, Kan. (Dec. 15, 2010) - Nueterra Companies, an integrated health care, financial, human resources and real estate services firm, today announced the launch of Nueterra Health Alliance, a new physician services company that will provide value-added services to help physicians remain independent and prepare for the impact of health reform. The company will provide services ranging from electronic health record implementation and revenue cycle management to practice operation and clinical integration/ACO consulting to reduce costs and help physicians insulate their practices from continued increases in costs.

"Since our founding in 1997, Nueterra has created innovative partnerships with physicians to help them remain in control of their practices and professional lives," said Nueterra Chairman Dan Tasset. "While health care reform is prompting many physicians to seek employment, I believe the majority of physicians want to remain independent and Nueterra is committed to giving them the tools to do that."

Tasset said that hospital industry veteran Dan Jones will be the CEO of Nueterra Health Alliance. Jones has more than 15 years of experience in senior leadership positions at acute-care hospitals across the country.

"I am excited to join Nueterra and lead the creation of Nueterra Health Alliance at the critical juncture in the evolution of health care in this country," Jones said. "We have an unprecedented opportunity to reshape health care while helping physicians remain independent and in control of their practices."

Goals for Nueterra Health Alliance include helping physicians demonstrate meaningful use technology requirements to obtain federal EHR subsidies, allowing physicians to affiliate with a larger organization while maintaining an independent practice, and positioning independent doctors to be reimbursed under new payment models such as accountable care organizations, and to access new revenue sources that offset their decreases in reimbursement, Jones said.

In addition, the company will offer a wide range of services provided by other Nueterra companies and preferred partners. The other Nueterra companies include:

The company's preferred partners provide IT and revenue management services that will help physicians make the transition to electronic medical records and migrate billing offices to the new revenue structures that will come with the creation of ACOs, Jones said.

David Ayers, CEO of Nueterra Healthcare, which is one of the country's leading developers and managers of physician-owned surgical facilities, said the company would work with Nueterra Health Alliance to help existing surgical facilities develop new growth strategies and remain profitable.

"For many years our physicians have been asking Nueterra Healthcare to expand its offerings and help them streamline their practice management responsibilities," Ayers said. "Working with Nueterra Health Alliance, we will be able to offer physician partners many new services that will increase the time they have to spend with their patients."

John Schario, president of Operations for Nueterra Companies, said these services will be in increasing demand because of the quality, efficiency and bundling initiatives included in the health care reform bill. "We look forward to helping physicians come together to create the organizational structures that will be needed to meet these reform requirements," Schario said.