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Providence HMO adds physicians Number will double at start of new year By SUSAN JAY Residents covered by the Providence Health Plan will have double the number of doctors to choose from starting Jan. 1. That's when a new contract takes effect between Providence Health Plan and PrimeHealth, which represents 255 local doctors and three local hospitals -- including Rogue Valley Medical Center. "We're offering as much choice in Jackson County that you can get," said Ed Singler, Southern Oregon sales manager for the Providence Health Plan. The plan will offer commercial and Medicare members coverage with nearly all physicians and all hospitals in the valley. HMOs in general are blamed for limiting a patient's choice of doctors and services, not expanding them. Providence, however, is reversing its position from last year, when officials learned that "if you're going to be competitive in the health-care community here, you really have to have all the providers and hospitals in order to deliver the type of care, access and service that the community demands," Singler said. During contract negotiations in 1997, health plan officials decided to contract with Physicians Health Alliance, and did not renew the contract with PrimeCare, a partner in PrimeHealth. The Alliance was a new group representing Medford Clinic and Providence Medical Group doctors. The creation of the Alliance -- a competing independent physicians' association -- and the exclusive contract pitted many local physicians against each other and against Providence. Numerous health plan members also angrily complained to Providence when they had to switch doctors. Many switched health plans instead. The plan lost business in 1997, partly due to higher rates and partly due to the smaller number of choices. "I think what we're hearing from consumers locally is not much different statewide or nationally," Singler said. "People do want choice." Officials with PrimeHealth say contracting with Providence was important, because it is a major health plan in the valley. In November, the plan had 12,111 members in Jackson County and 1,604 in Josephine County. "It is only for the benefit of our patients and our community that we and Providence would find ways to work together," said Mike Bond, chief executive officer for PrimeCare. "Both we and Providence Health Plan realized that if we were to work together on a partnership basis into the future, we needed to completely restructure our relationship," Bond said. The contract the two groups negotiated allows doctors to focus on the well-being of their patients, "which is after all, what they do best," Bond said. This new contract provides choice among hospitals, as well as doctors. For the first time in its history, the Providence Health Plan is allowing members to choose Rogue Valley Medical Center. The regional medical facility is the largest competitor of the health plan's nonprofit sister business, Providence Medford Medical Center. The contract also allows the health plan to offer its members the same group of physicians and hospitals as its largest regional competitor, HMO Oregon, a subsidiary of Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oregon. The partners in PrimeHealth are PrimeCare, Asante Health System and Ashland Community Hospital. Asante is the umbrella nonprofit corporation for several health facilities, including Rogue Valley Medical Center, Three Rivers Community Hospital in Grants Pass and Hearthstone nursing home. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA