New medical director optimistic Aetna's woes are fixable

William C. Popik, MD, says the insurer is cutting administrative hassles and working to regain physicians' goodwill -- but won't make any promises on raising fees.

By Julie A. Jacob, AMNews staff. Aug. 6, 2001.

Aetna Inc.'s No. 1 goal is to return to profitability, but the company is also trying to mend its relations with physicians.

So says William C. Popik, MD, who in March was named chief medical officer of the Hartford, Conn.-based insurer with 18.3 million members.

But making life easier for physicians doesn't necessarily mean boosting their reimbursement, Dr. Popik said. "I don't think I have to cut physician fees in order to save money for the plan, but at the same time, I don't necessarily think I have to raise fees," he said.

The position of chief medical officer of the company that many doctors think epitomizes everything wrong with managed care is not a job that many people would envy.

But Dr. Popik described his job as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

"How often do you get the chance to go to the largest health care company in the United States, a company that has basically said that, in the process of doing a turnaround, it's going to reinvent itself?" asked Dr. Popik, a family physician who previously served as Cigna HealthCare's national medical director.

The appointment of John W. Rowe, MD, as Aetna's chief executive officer was another draw, Dr. Popik said.

"The leader of the company is a physician. He has health care front and center in everything he does," Dr. Popik said.

The company's goals of returning to profitability and regaining the trust of the physicians, however, won't be easy ones, Dr. Popik said.

The company lost $36.6 million in the first quarter of this year and is withdrawing its HMO from unprofitable markets in several states. [...]