30-doctor GCAP group wants to leave Alliance - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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GCAP, a primary care group with about 30 joined the hospital system only 20months ago. Now it’s claiming a litany of contractr violationsthat “have seriously affected the ability of the physicians to providre excellent health care for their many patients.” In a June 3 lettetr to Health Alliance CEO Ken Hanover, the doctors list 15 complaints, including: • Lack of 12 months’ noticre on changes in contractual arrangements, includin g payment of benefits; • failure to pay leading to the “embarrassing shutdown of services necessary to operatde our business.” The doctors on Wednesda filed a complaint in Hamilton County Commoj Pleas Court.
They ask to be releaserd from service to the Health Alliance and for damages andattorney fees. When it joinesd the Health Alliancein 2007, GCAP was the only large, independentg practice of its type in the area. It becamed a wholly owned subsidiary of thehospital system, whichn includes University, Jewish and Fort Hamilton and the . The practice had hoped to benefir from a complete electronic health recordsd system that could interact withthe Alliance’sx hospitals, as well as the ability to expandc geographically and recruit doctors more Health Alliance spokesman Tony Condia, in a writtejn statement, said the health syste was "surprised and disappointed" by the letter and He said the Alliance had initially tried to negotiate with the then offered independent which the practice refused.
The Alliance was preparing for preliminary discussionws to sever the relationship when the lawsuit was filed. "This litigation violates the terms of the service which requires us to resolvwe disputes such as this with aneutral arbitrator. We wouldr therefore encourage the GCAP physicians to uphold their contractual obligationsx and not pursuecostly litigation," according to the statement. withdreww from the Health Alliance followintg a long court battle that begab inMarch 2006. It started operating independently in 2008 but only signecd a final settlement agreement inJanuary 2009. The two St.
Luke hospitalss similarly withdrew, reaching a settlementt with the Health Alliance inSeptember 2008. St. Luke has mergec with .