Physician Practice Roundup—Baselga takes helm of AstraZeneca’s cancer R&D

Major changes are afoot at AstraZeneca as it shakes up its research structure with new units, new names and big moves.

First up, we have José Baselga, who will run a newly formed cancer-focused unit. If that name sounds familiar, it's because Baselga was the target of pieces from ProPublica and The New York Times a few months back, alleging he had been getting paid by pharma companies for work but had not been disclosing it properly.

He had been physician-in-chief at Memorial Sloan Kettering, but was forced out in the fall over the allegations—something he later took full responsibility for, although this didn’t save his job.

Now, the controversial scientist takes the helm at arguably AstraZeneca’s biggest unit, as it tries to rebuild its reputation and money-making power after a tough few years, with most of the bright spots coming out of its cancer trials (although not always). (Fierce Biotech)

Michigan becomes 25th state to join Interstate Medical Licensure Compact

Doctors in Michigan can now take advantage of a streamlined process to get licensed in multiple states. Michigan just became the 25th state to join the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, which offers an expedited licensing pathway for physicians who want to practice in multiple states.

Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed two bills into law before the end of 2018 to make Michigan the latest state to join the compact, according to the Federation of State Medical Boards. Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia and Guam are now included in the compact, through which state medical boards have issued over 4,500 medical licenses through the streamlined process. In particular, doctors are taking advantage of the process to get licensed to practice in other states via telemedicine. (Announcement)

Doximity appoints its first CFO

As it continues to focus on growth, Doximity, the professional medical network that includes more than 70% of U.S. physicians, has appointed its first chief financial officer.

The company announced it was strengthening its executive leadership team with the appointment of James (Jim) S. Cox as its CFO. Cox, who will lead the company’s financial strategy and operations, joins Doximity from Glassdoor, the job and recruiting site.

With over one million members, Doximity has grown to be the largest secure professional medical network in the U.S. (Announcement)

Urgent care firm CityMD has reached a last-minute contract to stay in UnitedHealthcare's network, curtailing the possibility that some of the firm's patients would face higher costs or need to find another provider.

As 2018 came to a close, it seemed likely CityMD might not reach a deal in time. Their agreement was set to expire on Dec. 31, and by the end of November UnitedHealthcare was warning members of the possibility.

But on Jan. 2, CityMD appeared to announce on Twitter that it had reached an agreement after all. The chain later confirmed in a statement emailed to FierceHealthcare that it would remain in-network for 2019. (Fierce HealthPayer)

Robert Pearl invites people to vote on the best ideas to fix healthcare

Last year, Robert Pearl, M.D., who is committed to transforming the U.S. healthcare system, launched his Fixing Healthcare podcast, inviting six innovative healthcare leaders to apply for the fictitious role of “Leader of American Healthcare.”

Now Pearl, the author and former CEO of The Permanente Medical Group, the largest medical group in the nation, has invited Forbes readers to vote for the best of the 18 boldest ideas those leaders came up with. He gave his guests—they included leaders such as Zubin Damania (also knowns as ZDoggMD) and Halee Fischer-Wright, the pediatrician who is CEO of the Medical Group Management Association—10 minutes to present their plan to solve healthcare’s five biggest problems. (Forbes)