Vital Signs - January 2005

IPC – The Hospitalist Company

Brings New Specialty to Nevada

It was only a matter of time before one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities was home to the leading company in the nation’s fastest-growing medical specialty. That marriage came about in September when IPC - The Hospitalist Company expanded its practice into Las Vegas and began serving patients at the two St. Rose Dominican Hospitals.

Hospitalists are physicians, typically trained in internal medicine, who focus all their time on hospitalized patients. They have no outpatient practice and, in fact, no traditional office. Instead, their office is the hospital; there they work in close consultation with the primary-care physician and appropriate specialists to manage a patient’s entire hospital experience from time of admission until discharge.

Because hospitalists are on-site to respond immediately to test results, to coordinate all the care, and to drive the delivery system towards better performance, their presence has been shown to increase the quality of care, shorten lengths of stays and reduce healthcare costs. In addition, they provide patients the added comfort and security of having a physician on-site to answer questions, consult with family members and manage the administration of all hospital services.

IPC is the nation’s largest and most mature hospitalist company, employing approximately 300 physicians in more than a dozen markets nationwide. This experience allows patients in each market to benefit from "best practices" that have emerged from IPC physicians collectively seeing more than a million patients annually. Patients also benefit from IPC’s technology, physician training programs and nurse-staffed call center which contacts discharged patients to check on their status within 72 hours of leaving the hospital.

Now, IPC is applying its proven track record in Las Vegas. Consequently, patients, physicians and the local healthcare industry as a whole should benefit from the company’s presence in Nevada. Lead physician for IPC Las Vegas is Carolyn Matzinger, M.D., a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine and a former primary care physician with her own practice for 12 years. She was recognized by America’s Registry of Outstanding Professionals for 2003-04.

"One of the greatest challenges the Las Vegas medical community faces is making sure that it has an infrastructure in place capable of responding to incredible population growth," said IPC Executive Director Steven Peterson. "The community’s expansion, combined with the important services and experience we bring, make Las Vegas an extremely attractive market for IPC."

Peterson, who joined IPC concurrent with the firm’s expansion into Las Vegas, brings with him three decades in healthcare operations experience. He has held senior management positions in several hospitals, including serving as chief executive officer at Desert Springs Hospital in Las Vegas from 1988 to 1994. In addition, Peterson worked for a large managed-care organization and national EMS (emergency medical services) provider in Las Vegas. During the course of his career, he also worked closely with physicians in negotiating various acquisitions and sales of medical practices in Arizona, Texas and Nevada. He holds an undergraduate degree in nuclear medicine technology and a master’s degree in hospital administration, both from the Indiana University School of Medicine.

According to Peterson, IPC intends to build its business in Las Vegas through forging relationships and earning the trust of primary care physicians (who would opt to have a hospitalist see their hospitalized patients), specialty physicians and local hospitals. Such a strategy has worked well in other markets, and the company is optimistic about its potential in Las Vegas, anticipating having 20 physicians on board by the end of 2005 to serve local physicians and their patients.