HealthTrust's Physician Advisory Group evolves to support clinical integration
Fifteen years ago, HealthTrust began its industry-differentiating Physician Advisors Program. “While the original intent of the program has not changed, the imperative has,” says HealthTrust Vice President of Performance Solutions Stephanie Thompson, PharmD, MBA, who oversees the program.
“Physician alignment is at the core of HealthTrust’s clinically focused, highly aligned group purchasing model,” shares Aashish Shah, M.D., J.D., Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer, HealthTrust. “We ground ourselves in safety and efficacy, but we certainly don’t shy away from conversations about cost.”
In order to best serve their communities, it’s no secret that today’s hospitals and health systems must maximize their margins. “By partnering with clinicians on some of the larger product conversions, we help them maintain or improve outcomes through standardization, with the ultimate goal of elevating these healthcare facilities from surviving to thriving,” explains Dr. Shah. Physicians are key to that movement.
What’s different
The realities of a changing industry necessitate the alignment of clinical, operational and financial disciplines. The relaunch of the Physician Advisory Group (PAG) illustrates how HealthTrust is evolving to impact that imperative. The new program is:
- Designed to show physicians how they can be part of the solution through knowledge-sharing, collaborative insights and peer engagement
- Reorganized with rigor around expectations for participating physicians
- Asking participating physicians to truly validate product strategies, align on them and then serve as champions of the decisions within their service lines and with other stakeholders
- Offering an approach that fosters dynamic conversations about how best to position or not position new technology
- Utilizing CMOs within member organizations to provide oversight of the individual physician’s work with HealthTrust
- Actively recruiting to meet the needs of the portfolio
- Focused on critical specialties with the largest opportunity for strategic standardization: cardiovascular, orthopedics, spine, electrophysiology, interventional radiology, infectious disease, critical care/trauma or other categories where costs seem to outpace benefits
“The insight and engagement provided by physicians in the revived program has been remarkable,” Thompson says. “It’s an elevated level of relationship and accountability.”
Dr. Shah looks forward to growing relationships with CMOs across the HealthTrust membership. His team launched a colloquium for physician executives earlier this year. “The CMOs we’ve interacted with thus far understand the significance of this work,” Dr. Shah adds. “They want to lean in and support the physicians engaging with us to thoroughly vet products, review clinical evidence and offer real-world insights on costly new technologies.”
Physicians interested in learning more about the participation requirements for PAG participation can email clinical.services@healthtrustpg.com. CMOs wanting to serve in a preceptor role for HealthTrust PAG members within their own IDN can email Dr. Shah at clinical.services@healthtrustpg.com.
Share Email Medical Devices, Performance Improvement, Physician Advisors, Q3 2026, Standardization
