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Published Tuesday, January 24, 2012 12:10 AMScott & White Health Plan customers will be able to receive covered care at College Station Medical Center beginning Feb. 1 under an agreement announced Monday by the two companies.
The move comes after St. Joseph Health System announced in November that it planned to end its relationship with Scott & White Health Plan after its contract expires April 30.
St. Joseph's president and CEO Tony Pfitzer said at the time that the Bryan-based health system couldn't be a partner with a company that was also a competitor. Scott & White is building its own hospital off Texas 6 near Rock Prairie Road in College Station. Completion of the five-story, 143-bed facility is more than a year away.
Until the new partnership with The Med, it was unclear if Scott & White health care members would have had local access to hospital services considered in-network once the St. Joseph agreement ends and while construction on the new facility continues, said Allan Einboden, CEO of Scott & White Health Plan.
Teaming up with The Med was not a part of their immediate plans until St. Joseph officials said they weren't going to renew the contract, Einboden said.
Between Feb. 1 and April 30, when St. Joseph's contract with Scott & White expires, Scott & White Health Plan customers can go to either hospital, Scott & White officials said Monday.
And because it's a four-year agreement, those customers will be able to continue to receive covered services at The Med even after Scott & White's new hospital opens.
Tom Jackson, CEO of The Med, said he believes the move was the right one for the community as a whole.
"Consumers always benefit from choice," he said.
Jackson said most of the doctors contracted through Scott & White Health Plan already work at both hospitals, so bringing them on board full time should be a smooth transition.
But St. Joseph officials Monday afternoon questioned the validity of the contract with The Med after reading about it in a news release Scott & White officials sent out.
"We received no prior word from SWHP that it intended to breach its agreement with St. Joseph and have attempted to contact a representative of the Health Plan asking for additional information," said Tim Ottinger, a spokesman for St. Joseph. "Based on the limited information available in the news release, this contract appears to be a breach of the exclusive contract currently in place with SWHP and St. Joseph Health System for inpatient services."
St. Joseph officials estimate that about 8 percent of their patients use Scott & White.
As of late Monday, Lindsey Joy, a spokeswoman for Scott & White College Station, said officials were still discussing details of the agreements and couldn't comment further.
Einboden said he only knew of one other instance when a hospital dropped its contract with Scott & White Health Plan in anticipation of a new Scott & White hospital.
Seton Medical Center Williamson in Round Rock terminated its agreement with the health plan provider when the Scott & White Hospital opened in the area, he said.
Source: http://www.theeagle.com/local/Scott--amp-amp--White-makes-Med-deal--6923912
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