- Home
- » e-Newsletters
What is the difference between an IPA and a medical group?
Medical Staff Legal Advisor, June 2, 2004
IPA, which stands for independent practice association, is an organization usually established primarily to contract with third party payers. It is a legal vehicle developed to allow physicians who have no other corporate or legal relationship (hence the term "independent") to constitute themselves as a group for contracting purposes. Some IPAs also expanded their functions to provide MSO (medical services organization) functions, though this was most often not their primary charge
A medical group is a collection of physicians who have come together contractually or in partnership for the purposes of managing a practice and sharing the care of patients. Once they have established themselves as a legal entity, the medical group can also contract with third party payers.
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Joint Commission’s top-cited standards list gives hospitals plenty to work on
- Don’t forget the three checks in medication administration
- Focusing on OR fire prevention
- Differentiate between types of wound debridement
- Preventing fires in the OR
- Note similarities and differences between HCPCS, CPT® codes
- Complications from immobility by body system
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- What is the difference between an IPA and a medical group?
- E-mailed
-
- Preventing fires in the OR
- Joint Commission’s top-cited standards list gives hospitals plenty to work on
- Focusing on OR fire prevention
- Why a ’restless’ George Mills left Joint Commission for a professional services firm
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- Q&A: Postop pain/nausea medication, antibiotics generally not separately billable
- Q&A: Leading multiple-choice queries
- Q&A: Identifying the principal diagnosis beyond DRG capture
- Correctly bill ancillary bedside procedures in addition to the room rate
- Correct use of modifier -AY for ESRD
- Searched