LaSalle Medical Associates’ partnership with Network Medical Management as its new Management Services Organization (MSO) is already paying dividends, says Dr. Albert Arteaga, president and chief operating officer.

“Our commitment to healthcare continues to include the expertise of a dedicated utilization and financial management team. The Network Medical Management team is integrating well with our physicians and other healthcare professionals to help us deliver first class care to our patients,’’ says Dr. Arteaga. “The number of calls from LaSalle’s physicians with questions is down by half since the partnership began in December, which means physicians are spending more time with their patients instead of trouble shooting.”

In addition, the partnership with Network Medical Management is creating more opportunities for LaSalle Medical Associate, Inc.’s physicians to provide more patient care services as well as initiate some cost savings plans. Those plans include speeding up the claims processing, solving grievances, negotiating healthcare contracts, and ensuring our doctor and nurses are correctly credentialed.

LaSalle is also better equipped to serve patients with long term disease.

“Network Medical Management is a MSO with healthcare professionals and financial experts, whose industry expertise empowers its healthcare clients to attain their financial goals and achieve organizational success,” says Dr. Thomas S. Lam, chief operating officer of Network Medical Management, Inc.

Network Medical Management is a full service Management Services Organization (MSO), which provides comprehensive administrative support to Independent Physicians Associations (IPAs) and medical groups to enhance the quality of patient care and increase profitability. It began operation in 1994 and is owned and operated by Allied Physicians of California IPA.

A Management Services Organization (MSO) is a company usually owned by a group of doctors, a joint venture among physicians and a hospital or investors together with doctors.

MSOs generally deliver practice management and administrative support services to individual doctors or small group practices, most notably to relieve physicians of non-medical business tasks so that they can focus more on patient care.

Currently, Network Medical Management serves LaSalle and other IPAs with membership totaling 280,000 patients in the San Gabriel Valley, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Stanislaus, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, San Joaquin and Madera counties.

Dr. Arteaga says the transition from LaSalle’s previous MSO MedPOINT Management to Network Medical Management was virtually seamless.

“Although there were a few minor glitches, none of which involved direct patient care, as the transition took shape, those issues were swiftly resolved,’’ says Arteaga.

While some California physicians are threatening to reduce the number of Medi-Cal and Medicare recipients they accept as patients, LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc. is taking a proactive approach by seeking to increase the number of low-income patients it serves.

“Network Medical Management is helping expand LaSalle’s medical network, while continuing our steadfast commitment to LaSalle’s mission of providing high quality medical care to the whole family with courtesy and respect,’’ says Dr. Arteaga.

For more information about LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc. call (909) 890-0407.

About LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc.
LaSalle Medical Associates, Inc., is an Independent Practice Association (IPA) of independently contracted doctors, hospitals and clinics, delivering high quality patient care to more than 190,000 patient visits in Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Stanislaus, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, San Joaquin and Madera counties.

LaSalle’s patients are primarily served by Medi-Cal and Healthy Families. LaSalle also accept Blue Cross, Molina, Care 1st, Health Net and Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP)

LaSalle Medical Associates is one of the largest independent minority owned healthcare companies in California.

About Network Medical Management (NMM)
Network Medical Management (NMM) is a Management Services Organization (MSO) comprised of healthcare professionals and financial experts, whose industry expertise enables clients to attain their financial goals and achieve organizational success.

NMM provides comprehensive administrative support to Independent Physicians Associations (IPAs) and medical groups, pursuing both quality patient-care and profitability.

As the health care industry continues to evolve, NMM remains at the forefront, anticipating changes and their impacts to the customers. NMM believes in a solid infrastructure and technology, which ensure the delivery of an integrated health care system with the highest efficiency and accuracy.