Don't get caught unaware if your IPA fails

The bankruptcies of four IPAs in Texas highlight the importance of being alert to the warning signs that an IPA may be in financial trouble.

By Julie A. Jacob, AMNews staff. Dec. 17, 2001.

When Quantum Southwest Physician Associates abruptly shut down in July, the doctors who were affiliated with the San Antonio IPA were caught by surprise. Same for when Medical Select Management, a Dallas IPA, filed for bankruptcy the same month.

It doesn't have to be this way.

There are ways to tell if your IPA is struggling financially, and even if you can't do anything about the sorry state of affairs, at least being aware means you can plan for trouble.

The main thing is to be attentive. Know which IPAs are paying unusually late. Read the papers to see if they mention any trouble with your IPA or hospital. Talk to colleagues and the local medical society to see if anyone else is having the same trouble you are.

The Medical Select bankruptcy was a surprise, even though the IPA was under state supervision, said Gary Cowan, MD, an ophthalmologist in Fort Worth. "You're talking to someone [at the IPA] one day and suddenly the next day you hear there's no money," he said. The 1,700-physician IPA owes its doctors about $21 million in unpaid claims, said Lee Spangler, the Texas Medical Assn.'s assistant general counsel.

Doctors in San Antonio were startled by the Quantum bankruptcy because the IPA had not been placed under state supervision, said Carrye Harris-Franzel, director of socioeconomics and medical practice relations for the Bexar County Medical Society. That bankruptcy affected 40 primary care doctors and 1,500 specialists, and the IPA has $50 million in unpaid claims, she said. [...]