Lets Go Into Business

In the face of dwindling patient visits, decreasing reimbursements and questions swirling around Medicare funding, more and more Northeast Florida physicians are looking to large medical networks for shelter in the form of partnerships or outright employment.

The trend highlights a significant shift in the traditional business model for hospitals and, in this area, it is helping to increase the reach and dominance of Baptist Health.

With five hospitals and Jacksonville’s largest primary care network, Baptist Health is the region’s fifth-largest employer with about 8,300 employees. Since 2006, Baptist Health has added to its regional footprint by acquiring specialist practices at a faster pace than other area hospitals.

In most of the acquisitions the physicians involved sought inclusion in the hospital’s network, a Baptist executive said.

“The economics for physicians are deteriorating,” said Edward Sim, Baptist Health president of physician integration. “As a result, you’re seeing physicians exploring relationships.

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Markets that had been rising and falling all week on speculation about what the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman might say or promise at the Fed conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, surged on Friday after getting their collective curiosity satisfied.

This despite the fact that Ben Bernanke promised little in the way of action on the state of the U.S. economy.

“Essentially, in the speech, he suggested that the Fed does have tools that it can use to stimulate the economy but indicated no immediate plans to use them,” wrote analyst Colin Cieszynski in an afternoon note. Mr. Bernanke said the next Fed meeting September will last two days instead of one to allow more discussion. “He also indicated that while the economy has been soft lately, some of the headwinds and disruptions should start to fade along with inflation pressure and that the long-term prospects for the U.S. economy remain positive.”

Markets weren’t disappointed by Mr. Bernanke’s lack of promises, because “if he threw more money at the economy, it would have given the impression that things were out of control,” Keith Springer, president of Springer Financial Advisors in Sacramento, California, told Bloomberg.

While markets south of the border started climbing immediately following Mr. Bernanke’s addr

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