Graham

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Geoffrey Graham

Medical Director

Huntington Provider Group

Dr. Geoffrey Graham heads the largest independent provider association in Los Angeles County. The Pasadena-based group contracts out the services of some 800 primary care physicians and another 1,800 medical specialists to over a dozen HMOs in Southern California.

The group is a subsidiary of Burbank-based Unihealth, a non-profit health care organization that owns eight Southern California hospitals and has been struggling financially.

One health care analyst, however, said that Huntington is “holding together as a unit” and appears to be a relative bright spot in the Unihealth organization because of its continued growth.

Graham joined HPG last April after serving as president and medical director for five years for Family Health Care in Ventura County, a small IPA with health care facilities in Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks.

“Huntington Provider Group is almost seven times larger than Family Health Care, both in the number of patients and in geographic area,” Graham said. “As such, the challenge is to meet the needs of a much larger entity that’s growing at a more rapid rate than any other managed care group in the area.”

Perhaps the biggest challenge is in walking a tightrope between providing the high quality of health care patients expect and doing so in a cost-effective manner, as health care costs continue to rise.

“It is getting tougher to do because this whole industry is getting tougher,” said Sharon Olson, chief executive of HPG’s sister organization, Huntington Provider Services. “We have to look at both sides of the equation. We have a real focus on quality of care first and financial issues second. We think that’s the appropriate business decision, not to mention the appropriate moral, ethical and legal decision.”

Because Graham only recently left his medical practice, he is especially qualified to direct HPG’s physicians and policies, Olson said.

“Geoff has this focus on quality of care which, I believe, is absolutely vital,” she said. “As a physician, he can understand, identify and empathize with the challenges patients face in assessing health care.”

In his brief time on the job, Graham has initiated roundtable and educational discussions twice a month for physicians and specialists to help them stay abreast of the changes in health care. He’s also begun outreach efforts to other medical providers in the community, including physicians, hospitals and ancillary service companies.

“The most important goal that I have is to see that the quality of care provided by HPG continues to improve,” Graham said. “The level is already quite high; I want to see it continue to advance.”

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