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Transylvania Hospital Taps Mina to Lead Physician Integration Effort
BREVARD, N.C., June 26, 2008—Anthony “Tony” Mina has joined Transylvania Community Hospital to lead the effort to bring local physicians and their medical practices into an integrated healthcare system with the Brevard hospital.
Mina was hired in late April to serve as the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Transylvania Physicians Services Inc. (TPSI), an affiliate of Transylvania Community Hospital. Mina will also serve as vice president for physician integration services for the hospital.
“My first priority is to help drive the integration process in the Transylvania health system,” Mina said. “This means working collaboratively with our physicians and supporting them as we work together with the hospital to form a stronger healthcare network for the residents of this area.”
Mina has 17 years of physician practice management. For the past nine years, he served as the lead executive in the operations of physician practices at Lexington Medical Center in Lexington, N.C.
Hospital-physician integration efforts are being launched in many communities nationwide to create better access to doctors and improve efficiency—with hospitals running the business side of medicine and physicians focusing on patient care, Mina said. Even more important, integrated healthcare systems are more successful at recruiting new doctors to a community and keeping the existing ones.
“The culture and business environment of practicing medicine has changed drastically over the past decade,” Mina said. “Many young doctors and even some veterans of the field now prefer to work as employed physicians instead of dealing with the high cost and risk of running a business that requires complex billing and reimbursement processes through insurance plans.”
The integration effort is by no means a takeover of the local medical practices by the hospital, Mina said. “Instead, the doctors who voluntarily join the system are teaming with the hospital for a better, more efficient healthcare delivery system that will benefit patients and provide them with more access to healthcare right here. Integration is about aligning the incentives for doctors and the hospital to provide better patient care.”
Dr. Ruffin Benton, who practices family medicine at Medical Associates of TCH, is a strong supporter of an integrated healthcare system. “It has become painfully clear that we have a shortage of physicians in this country, especially in the areas of family medicine and pediatrics. Integration make sense for our small community as we compete with larger cities in North Carolina and beyond to attract and keep top-notch physicians,” Benton said. “As a healthcare team, we are much stronger combining our resources and working together for the patients of this area for the long term.”
Currently, Medical Associates, Brevard Family Practice, Mountain View Medical Center, Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine at TCH, Pisgah Urology and Pisgah Surgical are integrated with Transylvania Community Hospital. More medical practices will likely follow this year, Mina said. “With a large referral base from primary care and other integrated physicians, will be able to attract more specialists to our system,” he said. “Historically, patients have had to leave the area for treatment in endocrinology and neurology. It is very possible that through integration, we will be able to attract these specialties and more to our community in the coming years.”
Mina graduated from Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y., with a bachelor’s degree in business management. He also holds a master’s degree in business administration and is board certified in medical practice management by the American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE). Mina’s wife, Jennifer, and their four children will be moving to Brevard this summer.
About Transylvania Community Hospital
Celebrating its 75th year, Transylvania Community Hospital is a nationally ranked 5-Star Hospital and a leading provider of quality healthcare services in Transylvania and surrounding counties. Based in Brevard, N.C., it is a not-for-profit community hospital founded in 1933 and is the largest employer in Transylvania County.