Situation
 
Middlesex Hospital Primary Care (MHPC), a division of Middlesex Health System (MHS) in Middletown, Connecticut, believes that their employed physicians are key stakeholders and critical to their success. For this reason, they wanted to ensure they maintained a competitive compensation structure for their 31 employed physicians and midlevel providers. The group knew they needed outside assistance and turned to Wipfli for guidance and support. 

Strategy
 
Wipfli interviewed 19 of the 22 physicians and gathered ideas of what the physicians believed were the components of a successful, employed physician compensation program.  In addition, Wipfli worked with MHPC’s compensation committee and proposed a new program that was later approved and implemented by the committee and MHS. “In addition to building rapport, Art Saunders and Jeff Bramschreiber gained the confidence and trust of the physicians early on because was evident to everyone involved (physicians, hospital VPs, me) that they both have intimate knowledge of physician practices and how physicians relate to a larger parent/owner,” states Susan Serkey.  

Benefits
 
The project was a win-win for everyone involved. “We were so pleased with the results and our return on investment,” states Susan Serkey, “we retained Wipfli in both 2008 and 2009 to perform coding audits and education, and we asked them to return for a ’compensation check-up’ in 2009 to further enhance our new compensation program.” In addition, MHPC was able to see an increase in their net billings and collections, and the physicians were able to take advantage of the opportunity to increase their pay. Further, the relationship between the two groups changed; both groups were able to take a professional approach to solving a difficult issue. In the end, the physicians and MHPC have a better working relationship, which will help both groups ensure continued success into the future, including recruiting of new physicians.