Developing practice plans in a public hospital

As funding sources outside of tight state and local budgets are being explored by public institutions, there is increasing interest in practice plan arrangements at public hospitals. The efforts of the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) in developing and implementing practice plan policies and programs in a diverse system of healthcare centers are documented here. These efforts were initiated in conjunction with a review of HHC's contracts with major medical schools, and their success has proven to be largely due to the plan's built-in flexibility and strong administrative and medical leadership.