DOCTOR MANAGING FIRM REQUIRED TO KEEP FUNDS IN STATE.Byline: Ben Sullivan Daily News Staff Writer The California Department of Corporations late Friday ordered the nation's largest manager of physician practices to stop funneling money out of the state because the agency is worried the company may soon go belly-up. Department officials told Birmingham, Ala ALA aminolevulinic acid. Ala alanine. ala (a´lah) pl. a´lae [L.] a winglike process. .,-based MedPartners Provider Network Inc. that any revenues it generates in California must stay within the state after a routine government audit determined the company was not fiscally sound. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. DOC See doc file and docs. 1. Doc - Directed Oc 2. doc - /dok/ Common spoken and written shorthand for "documentation". Often used in the plural "docs" and in the construction "doc file" (i.e. documentation available on-line). spokeswoman Julie Stewart Julie A. Stewart is a Canadian actress. Julie Stewart studied acting in Montreal at the National Theatre School of Canada and now makes her home in Toronto. She was the star of the Canadian television series Cold Squad. , MedPartners' California operation, based in Long Beach, had been sending money to the company's corporate headquarters. The cease-and-desist order Cease-and-desist order An order issued after notice and opportunity for hearing, requiring a depository institution, a holding company or a depository institution official to terminate unlawful, unsafe or unsound banking practices. should stop that, she said, permitting MedPartners only to pay its local physicians and other health care providers. ``We feel they aren't demonstrating financial viability at this point . . . so whatever (money) comes into California stays in California,'' Stewart said. MedPartners officials could not be reached for comment early Friday evening. In addition to the order, the DOC has sent letters to all health plans in the state demanding evidence of contingency plans A plan involving suitable backups, immediate actions and longer term measures for responding to computer emergencies such as attacks or accidental disasters. Contingency plans are part of business resumption planning. to care for enrollees in case MedPartners goes out of business. MedPartners physicians care for 1.3 million Californians. Many plans have already shifted patients to physicians working for other companies or have contracted with the same doctors through different physician networks. Last January, an $8 billion merger with PhyCor Inc. collapsed, sending the MedPartner's shares down 45 percent. In May, the company laid off 10 percent of its California work force following months of losses. MedPartners has since said it plans to exit the physician management business to concentrate on pharmaceutical benefits management. |
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