The area’s largest physician practice plan was officially launched on October 9, when faculty members celebrated the formation of the Wayne State University Physician Group (WSUPG).

Comprised of 750 academic physicians, WSUPG is a non-profit organization that unites 19 separate faculty practice plans under one umbrella to be more efficient in the health care marketplace. The group was incorporated in March 2000 and was led by WSU’s department chairs who serve as WSUPG’s board of directors. By bringing all university physicians together, the group hopes to improve and streamline business operations, create an identifiable entity to represent all WSU faculty physicians, and compete with high-profile hospitals and practice groups.

“In the past, the 19 practice groups were united under the WSU School of Medicine in their research and education programs, but they operated independently in their clinical care enterprises,” said Stephen DeSilva, MD, president and CEO of WSUPG. “We now have a common vision and goal of how we want to practice medicine.”

WSUPG hopes to streamline contract processes with health insurers and simplify billing systems through a new management services organization called University Physician Services (UPS) Inc. UPS, a wholly owned for-profit subsidiary of WSUPG, will handle the day-to-day management activities associated with health care delivery. Financial support for UPS comes from a 1 percent service fee tax taken from WSUPG’s clinical revenues.

Bruce Deschere, MD, president of University Physician Services, the administrative services arm of WSUPG said, “We want the patients to be happy. We want the doctors to be happy. We want to eliminate the hassles that are getting in the way of good health care.”

Although most Wayne State University Physicians are affiliated with the Detroit Medical Center, their offices are located throughout southeast Michigan. Collectively, these physicians see about 1 million patients annually and collect about $200 million in fees each year. The group’s referral number is 1-877-WSUDOCS.