Thanksgiving 2015.

It’s a time for sharing and sharing happiness. The Management Services Team with PDA extends a Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Also, good wishes are for your staff and patients. It is important that special thanks are reserved to our colleagues who are “on-call” and see those in medical need over the holiday.

Whatever we are called to do as caregivers, this is a time to give thanks for all the good things that surround us. Difficult things happen as do the positive occurrences. Still, today and every day so much good surrounds us.

As we count fortunate occurrences, PDA is aware of the big healthcare industry events of the year 2015. The melding and merging of big hospital systems in Dallas-Fort Worth is certainly a major, huge event. We are still evaluating the possible outcomes for our independent physician constituency. It is clear the market is being overhauled and prepared ASAP for new sales and distribution plans. This has to happen to drive increased patient throughput in order to pay for the cost of new mega-system structures.

The insurance companies have undergone as much change this year as the healthcare systems! There once were many big carriers and now there are only a few. The 2016 insurance distribution channels are a matching function of new alliances and products with the mega-hospital systems.

Another change is that the emergency rooms are no longer only an extension of an acute hospital. They are expanding into free-standing retail chains that are branded. They present both episodic and emergency care. There are three such facilities in a few minutes from the PDA base office. The fact that they are “busy” with cars in their parking lot is very interesting. Most of the locations either has access to ancillary services or actually operate them onsite. The market seems to say that the attraction to patients of extended hours and convenience is quite strong.

There are so many events related to consolidation and defining service niches! But, none as important as the merging of acute & full service care systems to enable the launch of health insurance sales.  The collaborating healthcare system and benefits insurer coordinating benefit offerings that drive the vertical integration of products. The magnitude of these changes is amazing and historic.

So, it is time reflect on these changes. And, to say “Thanks” is a good thing.