A group practice is a group of physicians that provides specialized coordinated care to patients. Group practices include medical group practices, medical centers, medical clinics, and other organized systems of care. The group practice of medicine evolved naturally as physicians, medical professionals and administrators worked together to solve practical problems.
These physician groups may specialize in an area of care (e.g., cardiac care) and include various specialists (e.g., cardiologist, cardiac surgeon, clinical cardiac electrophysiologist ) who together provide coordinated, comprehensive, efficient, patient-centered care. Patients benefit by the sum-total of medical knowledge of all specialist in the group practice. Additionally, many physician groups implement care management strategies designed to anticipate patient needs, prevent chronic disease complications and avoidable hospitalizations, and improve quality of care.
Teamwork across specialties is coordinated through the use of electronic health records, dedicated care managers (or care coordinators), evidence-based care guidelines, and systematic monitoring of quality and efficiency. Contributing to quality of care is transparency and accountability for clinical care outcomes at the group level.
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