Media Releases
Froedtert Health and Medical College of Wisconsin Form New Physician Practice Partnership
Milwaukee, Wis. (Feb. 8, 2013) — Froedtert Health and the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) have agreed on plans for a joint clinical practice group to serve patients at both organizations’ community clinics. The new organization will be called Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin Community Physicians.
The joint clinical practice group agreement covers seven counties (Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha and Walworth) and includes more than 30 community clinics operated by both organizations. In fiscal 2012, over 250 physicians practiced at these clinics and combined patient visits exceeded 710,000.
According to Catherine Jacobson, president and chief executive officer of Froedtert Health, the agreement will bring the Froedtert Health primary care and specialty physicians currently practicing in the community setting into an integrated practice model. This integrated practice will be linked to MCW physicians practicing on the academic medical center campus in Wauwatosa and in the community through shared quality and service standards.
“Froedtert Health and MCW have been discussing ways to create an enduring economically, operationally and clinically aligned approach to providing care in the community,” Jacobson said. “This new structure aims at achieving a high performing off-campus patient care model to deliver value across the continuum of care, including enabling easy connections to the academic medical center as needed.”
John R. Raymond, Sr., MD, MCW’s president and chief executive officer, said, “One of the goals of this plan is to continue to build on the community-academic partnership between our two organizations that is unique in the region. To the benefit of our patients, we will be able to clinically integrate, sharing the same electronic health record and evidence-based medical protocols plus access to academic medical center expertise.”
Mark Lodes, MD, was named president of Froedtert & The Medical College Community Physicians. Dr. Lodes, who currently serves as chief medical officer of the Froedtert & The Medical College Clinical Ventures Group, has been instrumental in developing and managing the organizations’ off-campus clinic initiatives since 2004. The effort focused on providing convenient access to MCW physicians in a less costly environment than the academic medical center. Dr. Lodes led the development of four new clinic sites, bringing the total Froedtert & The Medical College off-campus primary care clinics to eight. Board certified in internal medicine and pediatrics, Dr. Lodes also is a practicing physician. He completed residency training at MCW, where he earned his medical degree in 1997.
An eight-person board of directors will provide oversight of the new organization with Froedtert Health and MCW appointing four members each and Dr. Lodes serving as an ex-officio member of the board.
“This agreement is just the beginning. Many decisions will be made in the next six months to create the organization and its structure. A physician leadership council will be instrumental in providing guidance as we continue to move forward,” said Dr. Lodes. “Our patient-centric care model uses data-driven best practice methods and aims to provide great value to our patients by delivering appropriate, timely care in the most cost-effective setting,” said Lodes.
Froedtert Health is a regional health care organization made up of Froedtert Hospital, Milwaukee; Community Memorial Hospital, Menomonee Falls; St. Joseph’s Hospital, West Bend; and Froedtert Health Clinics, Waukesha and Washington counties. Joining the capabilities of an academic medical center affiliated with The Medical College of Wisconsin, two community hospitals and more than 30 community-based primary and specialty clinics, Froedtert Health delivers highly coordinated, cost-effective health care to residents of southeastern Wisconsin and beyond. In fiscal 2012, combined adult patient admissions for the three hospitals were approximately 40,000. For more information, visit froedterthealth.org.
The Medical College of Wisconsin is the state's only private medical school and health sciences graduate school. Founded in 1893, it is dedicated to leadership and excellence in education, patient care, discovery and community engagement. The Medical College's 1,350 faculty and staff physicians, providing services as the Medical College Physicians and the Children's Specialty Group, comprise the largest group practice in the Wisconsin. These doctors provide care in every specialty and sub-specialty of medicine. They see more than 425,000 patients annually, representing nearly 1.6 million patient visits. Froedtert Hospital is a major teaching hospital affiliate of the Medical College.
Last Review Date: Feb. 8, 2013 Online Editor(s): Christopher Sadler |