Osteopathic medicine in transition: postmortem of the Osteopathic Medical Center of Texas

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association

ISSN

0098-6151

Volume

106

Issue

9

First Page

558

Last Page

561

Publication Date

September 2006

Abstract

The stand-alone osteopathic hospital was a necessity to the osteopathic medical profession in an era when it was isolated from allopathic medicine. As osteopathic medicine has become increasingly integrated with allopathic medicine, however, an independent osteopathic hospital is no longer a necessity. Moreover, a stand-alone institution seems to be economically out of place in today's market. The Osteopathic Medical Center of Texas in Fort Worth is an example of a stand-alone hospital that was unable to capitalize on the benefits realized by integrated hospital systems. The author believes that this failure contributed to the institution's demise. The market power of a hospital system can be used for more favorable contracting with vendors and providers, as well as facilitating negotiations with payers. System affiliation provides economic efficiency, security, and protection in the highly uncertain, complex, and competitive healthcare market.

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