30-doctor GCAP group wants to leave Alliance - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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GCAP, a primary care group with abou30 doctors, joined the hospital system only 20 monthzs ago. Now it’s claiming a litany of contractr violationsthat “have seriously affected the ability of the physicians to provide excellent health care for their many In a June 3 letter to Health Alliancre CEO Ken Hanover, the doctors list 15 including: • Lack of 12 notice on changes in contractual including payment of • failure to pay leading to the “embarrassing shutdown of services necessary to operates our business.” The doctors on Wednesday filed a complaint in Hamilton County Commonm Pleas Court.
They ask to be releasex from service to the Health Alliance and for damages andattorney fees. When it joined the Health Alliancdin 2007, GCAP was the only large, independentt practice of its type in the area. It becamed a wholly owned subsidiary of thehospitalk system, which includes Jewish and Fort Hamilton hospitals, and the . The practicd had hoped to benefir from a complete electroni c health records system that could interact withthe Alliance’se hospitals, as well as the ability to expancd geographically and recruit doctors more Health Alliance spokesman Tony in a written statement, said the healtb system was "surprised and disappointed" by the lette r and complaint.
He said the Alliancs had initially tried to negotiate with the then offeredindependent arbitration, which the practice The Alliance was preparing for preliminary discussionsz to sever the relationship when the lawsuit was "This litigation violates the terms of the servicwe agreement, which requires us to resolve disputes such as this with a neutraol arbitrator. We would therefore encourage the GCAP physicians to upholde their contractual obligations and not pursuecostly litigation," according to the statement. withdreww from the Health Alliance following a long court battle that begajn inMarch 2006.
It started operating independently in 2008 but only signexd a final settlement agreemengt inJanuary 2009. The two St. Luke hospitalx similarly withdrew, reaching a settlement with the Healtnh Alliance inSeptember 2008. St. Luke has mergedf with .