Physician input keeps consulting firm in business

Michigan's Medical Advantage Group works closely with doctors, hospitals and managed care companies.

By Mike Norbut, AMNews staff. Nov. 17, 2003.

When Michigan physicians started a grassroots effort seven years ago to create a consulting and management company, the failures of other medical society creations and private physician practice management companies did not dissuade them.

"We knew physicians would be needing help," said Krishna Sawhney, MD, a general vascular surgeon with Henry Ford Health System in Wyandotte, Mich.

And who better to provide the help than physicians? That's been the mantra of Medical Advantage Group, the company that doctors voted to develop in 1996 and still have an active role in running.

From overall governance to daily duties, like taking part in consulting work for practices and chart review for insurers, physicians are constantly proving they are not silent partners in this business, which has started to thrive during the last couple years.

"The reason I think we succeeded is the heavy-duty involvement by physicians," said Dr. Sawhney, founding and current chair of Medical Advantage Group. "The board gets down and dirty into the activities. We bring in knowledge about what a physician needs, and we have a connection."

The intense physician involvement started from the outset. Medical Advantage Group received $3 million in seed money split evenly among three sources: the medical society, a liability insurance company that was another spawn of the medical society, and about 250 physicians, who purchased nearly $1 million in stock through an initial public offering.