Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is CTD Multi-Specialty Network, Inc.?
Connect the Docs is a professional corporation made up of physicians using the Independent Physician Association (IPA) model. Our position in the marketplace will be to use medical services to obtain clinical integration of local independent physician practices. At this time it has become imperative for medical practices to evaluate the benefits they receive from affiliation with various organizations that are integrated for the sole purpose of contract negotiating.
Our mission will be to enable clinical integration amongst independent physician practices in order to improve quality, efficiency and cost effectiveness therein creating a culture of interdependence; resulting in a unified health care delivery system where independent physicians and patients thrive.
2. Will Connect the Docs participate in messenger model contracting?
Our interests lie in serving the independent physicians through alignment and collaboration both with Scripps Health and other IPAs. Our purpose is not to replicate work being done elsewhere, but to join with others to achieve maximum clinical integration and to share our services with others. Many IPAs in the local San Diego area do excellent contract negotiating and many of our members benefit from this. We hope to strengthen these relationships to enable our members to begin to integrate with other networks and to be able to offer the best of both worlds to all independent physicians.
3. How would Connect the Docs clinically integrate independent physicians?
Ideally all of our members would use all of our services and the result would be a unified system that assists in providing care that is evidenced based, patient centered and systems-oriented. The more we seek to implement like services into our practices the easier it is to evaluate, integrate and improve care. To be effective, such services need to foster collaboration by aligning hospital and physician incentives, encouraging them to work toward the same goals of improving quality and patient safety, and providing effective and appropriate care to create better health outcomes. That said, Connect the Docs offers a cafeteria plan of services (see Services link) and it is up to the physicians to decide what services best meet their needs.
4. Will I still need to belong to additional IPAs in order to receive the best contracts?
Our goal is to clinically integrate with other IPAs in order to eliminate duplication; at that point it would only be necessary to join a single IPA.
5. What is the cost of a Connect the Docs membership?
In order to participate in the Connect the Docs IPA and have access to their MSO services and benefits the initial one time Membership Fee is $500.00 and the annual dues are $500.00. For this fee each member of the IPA will receive one share of the professional corporation. Connect the Docs MSO is a joint venture between the IPA physicians and management. Therefore all of the Connect the Docs members will own a portion of both the IPA and the MSO.
6. How do I become a member?
Membership is available to MDs, DOs, and DPMs who are members in good standing of a Scripps hospital Medical Staff. To begin the membership process, please contact Connect the Docs at (760) 230-2252.
