A partnership, corporation or other legal entity which contracts with an HMO, union or other provider to provide care to an enrolled group for a fixed monthly amount. In the IPA, the provider can work from his office instead of an HMO center or clinic. Fee-for-service patients can be treated alongside those in the IPA plan. Patients in the IPA plan must use a participating provider. The provider must follow IPA practices, accept reimbursement as full payment and comply with IPA peer review 'and quality assurance procedures. Typically, the IPA pays the provider a percentage of his fee, with the remaining percentage held in a reserve pool that may be divided at year's end by the provider if any funds remain.
also IPA. A type of health maintenance organization in which an association, made up of individual practice physicians, contracts to provide services to the HMO enrollees. The HMO pays the IPA on a capitated basis to provide a defined package of services to its members.
a legal entity organized and operated on behalf of individual participating dentists for the primary purpose of collectively entering into contracts to provide dental services to enrolled populations. Dentists may practice in their own offices and may provide care to patients not covered by the contract as well as IPA patients.
An association of physicians that contracts with a health maintenance organization, limited service health organization, or preferred provider plan to provide health care services.
A type of HMO which contracts with a physician-controlled entity, usually on a capitulated or discounted fee for service basis to compensate physicians for their medical services. IPAs may also serve non-HMO patients.
A means of organizing a health maintenance organization (HMO) in which the participating physicians maintain their own separate offices. Such physicians usually treat both private patients and HMO members. See also group practice model (GPM). | Back
An association of physicians contracting with a health maintenance organization or other plan to provide health care services.
A model in which a management organization is contracted to administer a plan and contract with an association of independent treatment professionals.
A type of HMO in which a partnership, corporation, or association has entered into an arrangement for provision of their service. Practitioners provide care in their own offices and serve HMO members as part of their regular practice. IPAs are one source of professional services for HMOs and are modeled after medical foundations.
A type of open-panel HMO that contracts with an association of physicians who agree to provide services for HMO members.
One of two basic kinds of health maintenance organizations, in which medical services are provided by independent practitioners who work out of their own offices and who are compensated on a fee-for-service basis. An IPA is usually sponsored by a medical care foundation or a medical society. (See also: health maintenance organization and prepaid hospital service plan.)
A type of health maintenance organization ( HMO) that contracts with a physician-controlled entity, usually on a capitated or disconnected fee-for-service basis to pay for medical services. IPAs may also serve non-HMO patients.
An HMO model in which the HMO contracts with a physician organization that in turn contracts with individual physicians. The IPA physicians provide care to HMO members from their private offices and continue to see their fee-for-service patients.