Anesthesiology source of hospital disagreements Anesthesiology source of hospital disagreements (October 22, 2004)

Solution must be found by Dec. 31

By Julie O'Shea

Anesthesiologists at El Camino Hospital and the hospital's board of directors are at loggerheads over a new contract proposal that would ease the out-of-pocket costs patients are forced to pay in the operating room.

If an agreement cannot be reached by the end of the year, hospital officials said they will have no choice but to boot the current group of anesthesiologists and secure contracts with new ones.

The news has doctors and other hospital employees upset, saying that quality service costs money. The board of directors passed a resolution Oct. 6 stating that a solution to this dispute will be reached by Dec. 31.

Hospital officials said they are pleased with the job El Camino's anesthesiologists are doing. However, problems surfaced a few years ago when patients started complaining that anesthesiologists were accepting some insurance carriers but not others.

"We just want to make sure our patients have a choice at fair competitive prices," hospital spokesperson Judy Twitchell said.

In an "exclusive contract" offer, El Camino is willing to give its group of anesthesiologists $415,000 a year which is comparable to what other area hospitals offer their anesthesiologists, Twitchell said.

"In return, we would expect some reasonable insurance and billing practices," she said.

The offer was placed on the table in early September, said hospital board member Wes Alles, adding that the anesthesiologists didn't think it was "reasonable" and hired a consultant to review the proposal.

Alles said he and his colleagues will meet again with the anesthesiologists within the next week or so and will have a better understanding of where both parties stand on the issue.

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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