Case Study Fargo Clinic

1582 Words7 Pages
<BR>Introduction <br> <br> The Fargo, North Dakota healthcare market is served by many different physicians and hospitals. This area includes an eastern North Dakota and a portion of western Minnesota. St. Luke’s Hospital and the Fargo Clinic are both major players in this region. St. Luke’s was a community not-for-profit hospital, and the Fargo Clinic was two separate for-profit corporations. <br> Until recently, they have been operating as separate entities. In 1986, they formed a partnership and proceeded to operate separately but under the trade name of MeritCare. This was done to position both of the companies for future growth, merger, or expansion. As of January 1, 1993, the restructured nonprofit organization had…show more content…
The total market area includes another 215,000 persons. Medicare, Blue Cross/Blue Shield along with other traditional forms of health insurance, dominates the payor market. HMO’s and PPO’s make up less than five percent of the market. The total market area has 14.6% of the population over 65, which is higher than the national average. This number should help explain the importance of the Medicare market. <br>The Fargo Clinic, in 1993, had 250 physicians in 30 locations. Five of these are larger clinics, with the rest being smaller community-based facilities. They had over a million patient visits in 1992, with over half coming from Minnesota. Revenues were $150 million, which represented over a 50% growth in the last five years. The Fargo Clinic’s physicians represented 70% of the total in the market. In the mid-1980’s, they embarked on a rapid expansion by purchasing many area primary care centers. This has provided them with a solid base of much needed primary care capacity from which to grow…show more content…
Luke’s strengths also include that they are the largest hospital and private employer in North Dakota. As of 1993, outreach activities at St. Luke’s Hospital were established. These networks included such things as oncology (20 locations), emergency heart services (30 locations) and maternal child care (18 locations). These outreach activities will help them to grow and strengthen their market position. <br> The Roger Maris Cancer Center is a strength of MeritCare. It provides cancer treatment to people in three states, pulling patients from eastern North Dakota, northern South Dakota and western Minnesota. This has been a very successful venture increasing patient visits per month by 100. <br>The strengths of the Fargo Clinic add significant strength to the MeritCare merger. One of the main strengths of the clinic is that it is one of the largest multispecialty clinics in the country with 30 locations throughout North Dakota and Minnesota. It also presents an integrated, cost-effective system of care that should be integral in obtaining profitable managed care contracts. By having the hospital and clinic operating as one entity, the quality of care should improve with a slower rise in costs. This increase in quality of care will improve community health care and increase their patient load.
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