Physicians Practice and Alaska Regional Hospital Partner to Improve Patient Care in Alaska

Baltimore, Maryland — March 31, 2009 — Physicians Practice and Alaska Regional Hospital have joined forces to help provide area physicians and their staff more time to devote to patient care. This new partnership is a unique program designed to help doctors in Alaska area better handle the cumbersome and time-consuming issues of managing a busy practice. Through this new alliance, the Alaska Regional Hospital will use Physicians Practice’s extensive resources to deliver essential practice management tools to help physicians manage the business aspects of medicine more efficiently and effectively.

Physicians’ need for practice management information is an ever-increasing one. According to Pricewaterhouse Coopers, every hour a physician spends with a patient results in 36 minutes of paperwork. Additionally, the cost of running a medical practice has increased and now consumes as much as 62% of the revenue (2007 Medical Group Management Association Cost Survey), while reimbursement continues to decline from year to year (2006 and 2007 Physicians Practice Fee Schedule Surveys). Furthermore, according to the 2008 Future Physicians of America Survey, nearly 70% of medical students do not feel adequately prepared for managing or owning a practice in the future.

Under this new partnership, Alaska Regional Hospital will sponsor the distribution of Physicians Practice, America’s Leading Practice Management Journal, to approximately 1,600 doctors throughout the state. Physicians Practice will be mailed monthly, beginning with the March issue, and will serve to help physicians and their office staff address the numerous challenges faced by today’s medical practices. The journal will also feature a section sponsored and written by the Alaska Regional Hospital highlighting the hospital’s latest clinical offerings as well as articles of interest to physicians in the region.

“Partnering with Physicians Practice is a great way to offer our medical staff additional resources to help ensure their success,” said Ed Lamb, Alaska Regional’s President and CEO.

"It is great to be able to partner with Alaska Regional Hospital to bring practice management information and resources directly to Alaska physicians,” says Marcy Holeton, Senior Vice President and General Manager of CMPMedica US. “Our expertise in practice management and technology will help Alaska Regional’s medical practices to spend less time on business and more time with patients.”

For more information on the benefits of partnering with Physicians Practice to improve patient care, visit www.PhysiciansPractice.com, and select For Hospitals.

About Physicians Practice
For more than 18 years, healthcare executives have turned to Physicians Practice to help them cultivate physician relationships. Physicians Practice journal maintains approximately 60 hospital partnerships and the is distributed to nearly 260,000 practicing physicians. We create award-winning content and multimedia services to help community-based doctors in the United States and Canada strengthen their practice operations, which ultimately improves patient care. Physicians Practice is owned by CMPMedica, a division of United Business Media. Visit www.PhysiciansPractice.com for additional information about our acclaimed healthcare business education solutions.

About CMPMedica
Addressing today’s healthcare information needs, CMPMedica, a division of United Business Media Limited (UBM.L), delivers strategic, integrated communications solutions and comprehensive reach—online, in print, live, and via custom programs. Improving the effectiveness of healthcare through information and education, CMPMedica provides unbiased clinical, practical, and business information for physicians, providers, payers, and patients around the world. Through journals, magazines, directories, drug databases and other electronic databases, Web sites, face-to-face meetings, and other valuable resources, CMPMedica also delivers comprehensive communication solutions for the pharmaceutical and related industries. US websites include PsychiatricTimes.com, CancerNetwork.com, DiagnosticImaging.com, ConsultantLive.com, PhysiciansPractice.com and SearchMedica.com. Employing more than 1,400 people with offices in 29 countries, CMPMedica is headquartered in London. For more information, visit www.CMPMedica.com.

About Alaska Regional Hospital
Alaska Regional Hospital offers comprehensive inpatient and outpatient services including cardiovascular services, an orthopedic and spine center, Alaska’s first surgical robot, cancer resources, and neuroscience program with Alaska’s first Joint Commission-certified stroke center. Our air ambulance transports patients directly to the emergency department saving precious transportation time. Alaska Regional is committed to providing the highest quality healthcare in Alaska.

Hospital program contact:
Steve Gottshall
Associate Publisher
847 242 9552
steven.gottshall@cmpmedica.com

Media contact for Physicians Practice:
Amy Tubman
Senior Marketing Manager
410 818 2705
amy.tubman@cmpmedica.com

Media contact for Alaska Regional Hospital:
Kjerstin Lastufka
Director of Public Relations and Marketing
907 264 1733
Kjerstin.Lastufka@HCAHealthcare.com