Brown & Toland Physicians and Alta Bates Medical Group Form One Company

SAN FRANCISCO and EMERYVILLE, Calif., Aug. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Brown & Toland Physicians, San Francisco’s largest independent physician association (IPA), announced today that it has formed one company with Alta Bates Medical Group (ABMG), one of the East Bay’s largest IPAs.

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Forming one company centralizes the administrative functions of both medical groups and lays the groundwork to provide more services to physicians and members of both groups. Combined, both IPAs have close to 1,500 doctors, more than 140,000 HMO members, and more than 175,000 PPO members.

Richard Fish remains as chief executive officer of Brown & Toland. James Slaggert, former chief executive officer of ABMG, is now Senior Vice President of Business Development at Brown & Toland. Additionally, four former ABMG Board members will join Brown & Toland’s current 14-member Board of Directors.

“Today is an important day for our physicians and members on both sides of the Bay,” said Neal Birnbaum, M.D., Brown & Toland’s Chairman of the Board. “Physicians at Brown & Toland and Alta Bates Medical Group both have long histories of providing care for their communities. Working together, we can do much more.”

Added Richard L. Oken, M.D., former ABMG Board President and current member of Brown & Toland’s Board of Directors, “Alta Bates has been part of the greater East Bay community for close to 30 years. Aligning with Brown & Toland will provide us with the opportunity to expand our services and improve quality and outcomes for our members.”

Current members at both Alta Bates Medical Group and Brown & Toland will still have easy access to physicians in their respective physician networks. Additionally, Alta Bates Medical Group will retain its name and logo, so current members of the medical group, and those who want to select a doctor from ABMG, should select “Alta Bates Medical Group” on their health care election forms this fall.

Brown & Toland Physicians, based in San Francisco, is an independent practice association (IPA) of more than 850 physicians serving more than 300,000 HMO and PPO patients. The group has earned numerous awards for quality and innovation over the years, and has been named a California Association of Physician Groups (CAPG) “Elite” group for five consecutive years.

Alta Bates Medical Group, a division of Brown & Toland Physicians, is an independent practice association that has served patients in Oakland, Berkeley, and the greater East Bay since 1983. ABMG is comprised of approximately 600 physicians and serves 38,000 health plan members. ABMG has about 200 primary care physicians and 400 specialty care physicians throughout the East Bay.

SOURCE Brown & Toland Physicians