Orange County's Premier Surgeons Create New Group

Online, June 23, 2012 (Newswire.com) - A group of surgeons with independent, private practices in the Newport Beach, Irvine, Aliso Viejo and Huntington Beach communities, announced plans today to form a large surgical group practice in Newport Beach. They are consolidating their talents to provide better patient service, better coordinate care for the communities they serve and to improve their ability to work more collaboratively with health systems and hospitals, as well as referring physician groups and health plans.

Newport Irvine Surgical Specialists (NISS) represents surgeons who currently work out of Hoag's Newport Beach and Irvine hospitals, and Memorial Care's Orange Coast Memorial Hospital. The group will initially consolidate its operations this fall in an office at Hoag's campus at 510 Superior Avenue. Additional locations will be announced in the near future, as additional physicians are added to the group.

"Healthcare is rapidly changing," said Lincoln Snyder, MD, the group's founding President who specializes in Breast Cancer and Breast Cancer Aesthetics. "Regardless of what happens with the federal healthcare law, the practice of medicine and the way care is delivered is being transformed. The new landscape needs significant physician leadership to be shaped positively. Our group plans to have a substantial role in the communities we serve in determining how these changes play out."

With the talk of accountable care organizations and hospital-physician alignment, many physicians are leaving private practice and choosing to simply be employed by large organizations. The physicians of NISS are looking to carve an alternative path.

"As surgical specialists, we definitely want to maintain our independence, and coming together as a group will help us preserve that," said Colleen Coleman, MD, another of the group's surgeons. "The last thing we want is to have other interests involved in the doctor-patient relationship. While we will keep that as our foremost concern, we also will actively look for ways to engage more closely with hospitals, IPAs, and even the health plans. If that means spending time outside of seeing patients working on quality initiatives and devoting energies looking for ways to get costs out of the system, well, we know that's part of the job going forward."

"I would like to congratulate the highly trained surgeons in NISS for collaborating in this new innovative care model," said Richard Afable, M.D., President and CEO of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, a regional healthcare delivery network which includes two acute care hospitals. "The physicians involved have been providing and will continue to provide important care in our community for years to come."

"We have worked with many of the NISS physicians over the years as the primary surgeons we refer to for general and specialty surgery needs," said Diane Laird, CEO of Greater Newport Physicians, the leading IPA for coastal Orange County. "We look forward to working with them as both of our organizations grow, not only as outstanding physicians but as they work to make healthcare more affordable."

NISS Founding Physicians include: Steven Beanes, MD; Colleen Coleman, MD; Alex Fazeli, MD; Michael Hurwitz, MD; Ron Katz, MD; Larry Pearl, MD; Andy Shadid, MD; Lincoln Snyder, MD; Peter Wang, MD

The initial group of founding partners covers a multitude of subspecialties, as the physicians are all highly-trained surgeons with strong pedigrees who have developed premier reputations in the medical community. From advanced laparoscopic surgery, to colorectal, breast or endocrine surgery, as well as trauma, the surgeons at NISS are leading experts in their field. In addition, NISS physicians oversee care at the Hoag Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine Center.

NISS includes more than just a group of physicians, as an experienced team of nurses, assistants and technicians help ensure that, in the office, patients get exactly what they need in a timely, service-oriented manner.

NISS has engaged Sovereign Healthcare to provide management services for their group practice.

About Newport Irvine Surgical Specialists:
Newport Irvine Surgical Specialists (www.niss-surgery.com) is a leading group surgery practice with its initial office located in Newport Beach, California, consisting of leading, highly-trained surgeons focused on a wide variety of surgical needs and the related subspecialties. The founding group of physicians are: Steven Beanes, MD; Colleen Coleman, MD; Alex Fazeli, MD; Michael Hurwitz, MD; Ron Katz, MD; Larry Pearl, MD; Andy Shadid, MD; Lincoln Snyder, MD; Peter Wang, MD.

About Hoag:
Hoag (www.hoag.org) is a non-profit regional healthcare delivery network in Orange County, California, consisting of two acute-care hospitals, five urgent care centers, seven health centers and a network for more than 1,300 physicians, 5,000 employees and 2,000 volunteers. It's the balance of technology, specialized and patient-centered care that prompts nearly 30,000 inpatients and 350,000 outpatients to choose Hoag each year.

About Greater Newport Physicians:
Greater Newport Physicians (www.accessgnp.com) is an Independent Practice Association (IPA) comprised of nearly 500 affiliated physicians and specialists who provide first-rate health care to more than 100,000 Orange County residents.

About Sovereign Healthcare:
Sovereign Healthcare (www.sovereignhealthcare.net) is a healthcare services company headquartered in Orange County, California, that works with leading physician specialists in the formation, planning and ongoing management of physician group practices. They work together to build solid and sustainable business foundations, as well as alignment initiatives with health systems and other third parties. Sovereign also partners with specialists in the ownership and operation of ambulatory surgery centers.