Expanding Massachusetts hospital operator, Steward Health Care System, is affiliating with Manet Community Health Center, a South Shore physician group of about 20 doctors that have been affiliated with Tufts Medical Center's New England Quality Care Alliance, The Boston Globe reported.
The new deal will allow patients, especially in the Quincy area, to see Manet physicians and opens up a larger pool of provider choices for them, Steward Health Care System Media Relations Director Chris Murphy told FierceHealthcare. Steward has grown in the past year, he explained.
The latest system-physician affiliation follows Steward's recent transitions with Whittier Independent Practice Association, in which Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in November accused Steward of kickbacks. The following month, Steward struck a deal with Compass Medical, a former physician group of Partners HealthCare.
Under the agreement, Manet physicians, who will not be Steward employees but rather affiliated and maintain their practices, will join Steward's contracting network and use its electronic medical records system, according to Murphy.
Steward was named one of the 32 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services-recognized Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations. Earlier this month, Steward withdrew from the state hospital association.
The deal will not affect Steward Community Choice, the Steward and Tufts partnered health plan, he said.
For more information:
- read the Boston Globe article
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