46824
Registered: 02/17/06
Posts: 2
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Reply with quote | #1 |
We just finished meeting with the Assistant VP for campus relations and the Director of Operations for our region of Missouri for Rehab Care Group of St. Louis http://www.rehabcare.com/signature+health+care+foundation.htm. I asked them what their relationship is with Signature Healthcare Foundation http://www.signaturefoundation.org (click on About Us and Outpatient Therapy). They indicated that it is simply a contractual relationship. They offered that the Foundation's clinics do great work, are highly regarded and see lots of patients. I asked if they were familiar with the concept of physician owned services and self referral as far as the Missouri PT practice act and APTA/MPTA are concerned. They seemed to have a working knowledge of the concept.
They appeared to have great difficulty with the fact that we as a faculty were as concerned about the ethical problems of their relationship with Signature. They cited wonderful relationships with Washinton University, St. Louis University, Maryville and M.U. physical therapy programs as well as the fact that the Signature work represented a very small fraction of their national base.
I defended our colleagues at the academic institutions they referenced as probably not being aware of their relationship with Signature. Was I correct?
Are we policing ourselves? I felt like the "Lone Stranger" in this meeting.
We as a program have decided to avoid any exposure of our students to an entity that is associated with what has the appearance of a POPTs: the Signature web site lists 62 physicians as owners and the four clinics they own in the St. Loius area. That is enough for us. The implication is there.
Please let us hear from you. We particularly want to hear from the academic program folks.
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