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Health-care providers join forces Surgery, orthopedics centers team with Asante By Jessica Smith of the Mail Tribune An alliance among three local health groups will make it easier for some people to get prompt, insured outpatient care. Representatives of the physician-owned Surgery Center of Southern Oregon announced Friday a partnership with Asante Health System and Southern Oregon Orthopedics Inc. The deal gives the surgery center access to some 65,000 patients served by Asante's HMO partner, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon. The East Barnett Road surgery center is the second regional outfit to partner with Asante, indicating the importance of economic alliances in the competitive health care market. "It's better for business and the community if we are cooperatively involved with (other hospitals and HMOs)," said Sheila Baker, surgery center business manager. One of several thousand free-standing, outpatient surgical centers built nationwide in the 1990s, the Medford outfit competes directly with hospitals for surgery business. Alliance officials say patients are the real winners in the new partnership. "It gives people options based on their medical needs and their level of comfort," said Robert Doolen, senior vice president of administration and finance at the Rogue Valley Medical Center. RVMC is one of several local health centers owned by Asante. The agreement allows physicians who are stretched thin -- operating at the surgical center and RVMC -- to streamline their work load, providing more efficient care for patients, alliance officials said. "We hope that will be a benefit to the community," said Steven Chamberlain, a surgeon with Southern Oregon Orthopedics. "We want to continue to raise the bar, raise the standard of care." For RVMC, the partnership means relief for its overloaded outpatient surgical center, Doolen said. "This solves what we call a `virtual capacity' issue. Our surgery suites are very busy, so if a portion of our outpatient surgeries can be done at the center, that's a help. That's a driving piece of (the partnership) for us," he added. Under the agreement, three representatives from each organization will serve on the board of directors. The 50-plus physician investors have formed a limited liability company that allows them to evenly split costs and profits with their new partners. A group of about 50 physicians pooled their resources and opened the surgery center in 1997, lured by the opportunity to better control their schedules. Common outpatient surgeries include tonsillectomies, hernia repairs and breast biopsies. It's unclear what the alliance will do to costs at the surgery center, which typically are 20 to 40 percent lower than hospital prices. "Time will tell how that works out," Doolen said. "But the costs are likely to be lower at this setting." Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA