 HistoryLike many innovative and successful ventures, MBA Inc. was created to address the changes in health care delivery and services. Medical administration professional Keely Smith co-founded MBA with Stuart Fleming, MD, two individuals who shared 40 years of experience in the medical field; 20 of those years amidst the changes brought about by managed health care. The passions of a physician and an administrator led to an extended exchange about the definition of ‘quality’ in the medical field as it applies to patient, physician, and institutional provider. A high level of medical service can only be achieved if the insurer treats the medical facility and the physician fairly: all parties must meet both the letter and the spirit of their contractual obligations in order for the patient to have a quality experience. Building Quality Into the Healthcare Experience Out of their discussions came the decision that in the world of managed care with all of its inherent competing interests, excellence in medical service could only be achieved with a streamlined system of communication among all concerned parties. “In medicine, quality is as much about making the patient’s treatment a humane process conducted with civility and dignity as it is about the medical outcome.” MBA believes that this standard should apply throughout the process: to insurers and health service providers as well as the patients that the system is designed to serve. MBA was incorporated in May of 1998 as a third party administrator dedicated to high standards of service maintained by quality communication among all concerned parties. Today, MBA administers contracts for two major Independent Physician’s Associations (IPAs) whose physician memberships number in the hundreds. MBA maintains contractual agreements with major health insurers and, by their expertise, have realized one of their primary goals: seeing to it that doctors and other service providers are fairly reimbursed and no longer have to fight for what is due them. |
In memory of Stuart Fleming, MD (1939-2004)
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