Coker Group is excited to announce the expansion of its Consulting Services division with the acquisition of a significant interest in Nagle & Associates, an established healthcare executive search firm. This acquisition combines Coker Group's more than two decades of assisting healthcare clients with Nagle & Associates' well-known and respected reputation for unparalleled customer service. Nagle & Associates President Chip Nagle stated, "The values and culture of Coker Group are closely aligned with our own. I think this partnership should not only allow for the future growth of our search practice, but also for Coker Group and its consulting services as a whole. The sum should certainly be greater than the parts in this case."

Coker Group will draw on the acquired company's deep expertise in executive search and organizational development. This will assist clients improve the quality of their hiring decisions and achieve excellence in not only leadership selection but also in the organizational assimilation and subsequent retention of the chosen professional.

Coker President and CEO Max Reiboldt said, "I am very excited to add someone of Chip's experience and reputation to the Coker family!  While we have successfully operated executive recruitment services for some time at Coker, never have we had such a leader in this area.  Nagle & Associates should truly take us to the next level."

To learn more, please click here.  

To contact Chip Nagle, email or call him directly at (678) 280-9688.

Hospital Physician Alignment Models and the Alignment Process

Economic pressure on healthcare providers to develop innovative strategies has never been greater.  Physicians and hospitals must work together to achieve strength in numbers.  Physicians are nervous about the new world of healthcare, especially with federal reform legislation changes. So while hospital employment of physicians has been increasing for several years, it is gathering momentum as physicians contemplate the likelihood that the future will be nothing like the past.  In light of the need for long-term planning and integration strategies, this session will explore various alignment models, key factors to fair market value, the process and timeline to align, as well as other key factors in the alignment process.

A couple of weeks ago, as I was sitting in my hairdresser's chair, he said of his attorney, "I would feel so much better if he would just keep me in the loop." My hairdresser had been injured in a car accident and was lamenting his dealings with the attorney assisting him. In the week preceding this comment my husband, whose physician forgot to call with the results of a serious test he had undergone, expressed a similar sentiment: "I am going to look for a physician who is responsive and has time for me." This sentiment about delays in communication is becoming an all too familiar refrain. A friend had waited five days for a prescription for a diagnosed bladder infection.  Another relative could not get his physician to tell him if he would have to be hospitalized for a medical procedure.

These events and comments really resonated with me in my role as a customer service advocate. In whatever healthcare role we find ourselves-- an administrator of a single physician practice, a nurse practitioner in a multi-specialty clinic, a healthcare system CEO, administrative assistant--we cannot be reminded often enough that our greatest asset is our customer base. In our business, we get what we want--a sound bottom line, wRVU bonuses, job security--by giving our customers/patients/clients what they want.  Click here to read the full article.