PEDIATRICS Vol. 95 No. 5 May 1995, pp. 704
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SEEKING TIES THAT BIND

The efforts of academic centers to acquire primary care practices have set off many of the town-and-gown issues that have long provoked controversy between academe and community-based physicians.

Nelson Ford, the chief operating officer of Georgetown University Medical Center, said: "Acquiring physician practices is a futile exercise in the long run, because you can't buy a doctor's mind. When you buy a practice, you may be buying somebody who wants to work less or wants the financial risk of the market chaos removed from his or her plate."

One of the most vexing issues for academic centers creating provider networks is that of securing the capital to acquire practices without becoming a commercial enterprise largely oriented toward profit. (Ironically, the nation's ten largest health maintenance organizations, all but two of which are for-profit companies, are reported to have so much cash they don't know what to do with it.)