We, the undersigned physicians practicing in the Scottsdale community, hereby express our strong desire to continue our ability to admit our patients under the care of our preferred physicians/groups at Scottsdale Healthcare.

We do not agree with the proposed idea to have the ED give community physicians a call on every admission, and if not given a verbal preference, have patients assigned to the 'on-call' group. We have in the past indicated our choice of group/physician via the hospital Portal, or in writing on specified forms provided by Scottsdale Healthcare. It is impractical to expect a busy practice to verbally indicate our choice on a case by case basis.

Our established relationships and  existing lines of communication with our preferred admitting physicians/groups allow us to co-ordinate the care of our patients more effectively when they are admitted to the hospital.  We have an effective network  based on communication and  mutual trust with the groups/physicians we admit to. This allows us to not only stay informed on our patients, but in many cases allows us to collaborate in real time with our partner physicians in order to provide our patients with the best care possible. This is not only good medicine, but also is in line with the current healthcare trends to improve communication and collaborative care.

We would like to preserve our right to choose our preferred groups and urge Scottsdale Healthcare to continue and refine EXISTING protocols, instead of recommending radical changes that would directly affect our freedom of choice in directing our patient's care.

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