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Emergency Medicine Leaders Discuss Role of Democratic Groups in Future of EM

By ACEP Now | on January 15, 2016 | 0 Comment
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Emergency Medicine Leaders Discuss Pros, Cons of Democratic Group Practices
ILLUSTRATION/PAUL JUESTRICH; PHOTOs shutterstock.com

For decades, the concepts of democracy and democratic group practice have been held as the standard to strive for in emergency medicine, but with the evolving landscape of health care, is it time to revisit these concepts? What role will democratic groups have in the future of emergency medicine? In Part 3 of this three-part series, EM leaders from different walks of life weigh in on the following questions. Be sure to read Part 1 and Part 2.

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Explore This Issue
ACEP Now: Vol 35 – No 01 – January 2016

—Kevin M. Klauer, DO, EJD, FACEP

Questions

    What is the definition of “democracy”?

      a. How do you measure democracy?
  1. Is democracy a group structure or an ideal?
  2. Do you think there is confusion about what democracy offers in EM?
  3. Is this just marketing or substance in emergency medicine?
  4. In a democratic group, do physicians get to vote on everything or just certain things?
  5. Does democracy have obligations/responsibilities associated with it (eg, financial, covering additional shifts, etc.)?
  6. Does a lack of democracy mean you will not be treated fairly? (Is fair treatment confused with democracy?)
  7. What are the pros and cons of democratic groups and nondemocratic groups?

Moderator

Ricardo Martinez, MD, FACEP
Ricardo Martinez, MD, FACEP, chief medical officer for North Highland Worldwide Consulting and assistant professor of emergency medicine at Emory University in Atlanta.

Participants

Savoy Brummer, MD, FACEP, vice president of practice development at CEP America in Belleville, Illinois, and chair of the ACEP Democratic Group Section
Wesley Fields, MD, FACEP, past chair and the most senior member of the Board of Directors of CEP America in Emeryville, California
Nicholas J. Jouriles, MD, FACEP, president of General Emergency Medical Specialist Incorporated, a single-hospital group in Akron, Ohio

Lynn Massingale, MD, FACEP, executive chairman of TeamHealth in Knoxville, Tennessee
Dighton C. Packard, MD, FACEP, chief medical officer of EmCare in Dallas


RM: Is the democratic model that we have articulated in the past going to be the most successful structure in the future, or do we all have to begin to give up a little something to get something bigger?

DP: The silence probably speaks for itself. I’m not sure that it’s a matter of democratic versus nondemocratic. Regardless of whether you’re democratic or nondemocratic, I think a larger group actually gives you the opportunity to take some risk, to try different models. I don’t know if they’re all going to win or all going to lose, but if you’re large enough, you can take a risk and you can try different things and then, hopefully, spread that success across your system. If the democratic group has the willingness to invest in itself, to take those risks, then I think they can be as successful as a nondemocratic group.

Pages: 1 2 3 | Single Page

Topics: ACEPAmerican College of Emergency PhysiciansDemocracyDemocratic GroupsEmergency MedicineEmergency PhysicianOperationsPractice ManagementPractice Trends

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