title: Three's company. Hospital, physicians and community make a strong alliance. Interview by Therese Hudson.
abstract: One 250-bed hospital in rural Pennsylvania illustrates the old adage "necessity is the mother of invention." It recently found that health care delivery had to change, so it created a PHCO--a physician, hospital, community organization that directly contracts with employers for health care. This was an innovative move for Meadville Medical Center, a sole community provider serving 80,000 in Crawford County. But the innovation doesn't stop there. The PHCO is moving toward capitation, says Meadville CEO Anthony J. DeFail. One day, he'd like to see all the hospital's business come through the PHCO. DeFail talked to senior editor Terese Hudson about the PHCO's origins.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: DeFail
mesh_terms: D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000458:organization & administration; D006744:Hospital Bed Capacity, 100 to 299; D006759:Hospital-Physician Joint Ventures / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006780:Hospitals, Rural / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000458:organization & administration; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D010414:Pennsylvania