Lehigh Valley Physician Group

“The organization's sole corporate member is lehigh valley health network, inc.”

“The organization's sole corporate member, lehigh valley health network, inc., has the power to elect, appoint, approve, or reject members of the organization's governing body.”

“The organization's sole corporate member, lehigh valley health network, inc., has the power to approve or reject certain major operating decisions made by the organization's governing body.”

“The process to review the 990's includes: draft 1 of the returns is reviewed in detail with a focus on accuracy, completeness, and perspective by the lvhn vice-president, finance - controller and the lvhn corporate legal counsel. Draft 2 of the returns is reviewed by the executive vice president & chief financial officer. All compensation disclosures are reviewed by the director, compensation - human resources. Draft 3 of the returns is reviewed together with the president & ceo, the executive vice president & chief financial officer, the vice-president, finance - controller and the director, tax. Final returns are reviewed with the lvhn board leadership group (the board chair and three vice chairs). Copies of all 990's are provided to the full board prior to filing.”

“In january 2016, lvhn implemented an electronic tool designed to send notifications and track disclosures reported on conflict of interest questionnaires. The network also expanded the scope of the conflict of interest or commitment policy, such that additional colleagues are now required to complete a questionnaire each year. Prior to january, the vp, internal audit and compliance services issued a notice to board members and members of the senior management council when it was time for them to submit their conflict of interest questionnaires. The vp also instructed members of the senior management council to identify and request completed conflict of interest questionnaires from individuals who had potential conflicts of interest and to provide her with the identity of those individuals. Compliance services tracked completion of the questionnaires. All physicians on lvhn's medical staff are also required to complete a conflict of interest questionnaire annually. Medical staff services monitors this process to ensure that all physicians comply. Potential conflicts are managed by the lvhn conflict of interest committee and/or by the board of trustees, depending on whose interest(s) pose the conflict and the nature of the conflict.”

“Lehigh valley health network 2021 executive compensation review in compliance with the rebuttable presumption of reasonableness process outlined in the intermediate sanctions regulations (issued under section 4958 of the internal revenue code); sullivan cotter and associates, inc. (sullivan cotter) qualifies as an independent executive compensation expert, specializing in the health care industry. Sullivan cotter provides advice to the lehigh valley health network executive compensation committee of the board of trustees to support its attainment of the rebuttable presumption of reasonableness under the intermediate sanctions regulations. They also support the committee in ensuring that the lvhn executive compensation program is competitive and aligned with the organization's executive compensation philosophy. Chief executive officer total compensation review: program analysis: analyze the market position of total compensation (base salary, incentive, benefits, and perquisites) for lvhn's president and chief executive officer (ceo) in relation to ceo market data obtained for a defined peer group of comparable health systems. This includes the preparation of tally sheets for the president and ceo as well as an analysis of form 990 compensation data. They assess the alignment of the president and ceo's compensation with lvhn's compensation philosophy and note the implications of the review. Sullivan cotter's analyses and findings are summarized in a report to the committee that provides a reasonableness opinion for the intermediate sanctions compliance. The report was provided by sullivan cotter at the august 11, 2020 executive compensation committee meeting. Ceo council executive total compensation review: program analysis: analyze the market position of total compensation (salaries, incentives, benefits, and perquisites) for lvhn's ceo council executives (approximately 10 total positions) in relation to comparable positions in peer organizations. This includes the preparation of tally sheets for each individual. Sullivan cotter's analyses and findings are summarized in a report to the committee that also provides an opinion of reasonableness for intermediate sanctions compliance. The report was provided by sullivan cotter at the august 11, 2020 executive compensation committee meeting. Summary of methodology to conduct this analysis, sullivan cotter: collected background information regarding lvhn's operations, structure, size and scope, as well as each position's duties. Compiled market data for ceo council executives consistent with the executive compensation philosophy approved by the committee during its september 18, 2020 meeting: the market data used for lvhn system executives in this assessment are an equally weighted blend of: (1) lvhn's committee-approved peer group of 27 not-for-profit health systems located in the northeast (excluding new york city) with net operating revenues between $1.8 billion and $7.6 billion (median of $2.9 billion); and (2) national data reflecting organizations of similar scope and size to lvhn. Peer group and national market data were abstracted from sullivan cotter's 2020 survey of manager and executive compensation in hospitals and health systems, as well as other published compensation surveys reflecting pay at comparably sized organizations, which included national hospitals and national medical groups. Compiled market data for the lvhn clinical chairs prepared by the association of american medical colleges (aamc) for the chairs of clinical departments in medical schools, lvhn's traditional comparator group for these jobs. Adjusted the market data to an effective date of january 1, 2021 at an annualized rate of 3.0% based on salary increase trends. Compared each component of lvhn's benefit program against typical market benefit practices in health systems and hospitals based on multiple published surveys, supplemented by sullivan cotter's proprietary data and experience. Developed mark”

“Anothers website - guidestar. Upon request - hard copies with senior management and marketing.”

“The organization makes its financial statements available to the public through its annual report to the community. The annual report is distributed to all attendees at the organizations annual public meeting. The annual report is available on the organization's website - www.lvhn.org. In addition, it is distributed via mail to members of the community. The organizations governing documents and conflict of interest policy are not made available to the public.”

“Educational programs and affiliations: lvpg recognizes the integral role our clinicians and ambulatory practices play in undergraduate medical education (ume), graduate medical education (gme), and our partnership with usf for the select program (scholarly excellence, leadership experiences and collaborative training). Through the support of our outstanding clinician-educators, we can deliver exemplary medical education programs, residency and fellowship program offerings. Under the leadership of many lvpg physicians, the educational programs are integrated into the clinical model of our medical group. The embedded structure coupled with a direct "learning at the bedside" approach allows our educational programs to flourish. Lvpg physicians serve as faculty for the lvh residency and fellowship programs, which currently offers fully accredited graduate medical education training programs in the specialties of internal medicine, general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, plastic surgery, family medicine, transitional year, emergency medicine, dermatology, colon rectal surgery, cardiovascular disease, hospital palliative care, breast surgery and surgical critical care. Additionally, a non-accredited minimally invasive surgery fellowship was added, and programs have been approved in general pediatrics and nephrology. Lvpg provides continuing medical education (cme) to its physicians and allied health personnel as well as to physicians in the community through various educational programs offered during the year. Lvpg also conducts extensive clinical in-service and continuing education for nursing personnel. Research: our members are engaged in investigator-initiated clinical trials, health studies research, and community-based participatory research that has resulted in extramural funding from a variety of prestigious organizations including the national institutes of health, the department of defense, the health resources and services administration, and the agency of healthcare research. As a member of vizient, lvpg physicians and apcs have been an integral part of lvhn's leading the nation in several key hospital outcome performance metrics, demonstrating our commitment to excellence. In addition, lvpg is nationally recognized for producing quality outcomes competitive with the top healthcare institutions across the country. Patient and community education programs: community health and wellness - lvpg physicians and providers are dedicated to health and wellness through patient educational programs, community engagement, nutritional counseling, and chronic illness management. We focus on diabetes, obesity, asthma, hypertension, and cancer screening. New approaches are being explored to improve patient engagement in lvpg, through the operations of the lvpg patient education oversight committee. The goal is to manage effective healthcare education through an interdisciplinary, systematic and collaborative approach by coordinating activities which will provide consistent information and outcomes for our patients, families and caregivers. Print resources are the primary method to communicate health care instructions to patients. Geriatric program - lvpg physicians provide guidance to the lvh geriatric program, located at the center for healthy aging at lvh. The educational offerings provide valuable information on wellness, healthy aging, and preventative care for mature populations, care giving information, holistic care of the older adult, disease control and management. These programs are delivered throughout the community and the lvh system including community organizations and agencies, the center for healthy aging, inpatient hospital rounds, help (hospital elder life program) rounds, and resident teaching rounds. Our geriatricians and nurse practitioners provide geriatric assessment in the inpatient trauma unit, the outpatient office and the nursing home setting. The education programs are developed by physicians, nurse pra”

“Lehigh valley physician group reports annually (as part of lehigh valley health network) the amount of community benefit provided during the fiscal year. A summary of the costs incurred follows: medicare shortfall the medicare shortfall of $47,637,917 is the difference between medicare payments and the cost of providing patient care. This combines traditional medicare and medicare managed care. Medical assistance shortfall the medical assistance shortfall of $13,758,450 is the difference between medical assistance payments and the cost of providing patient care. This combines traditional medical assistance and medical assistance managed care. Uncompensated charity care uncompensated charity care at cost was $3,849,890. This total does not include bad debt. Lehigh valley physician group's determination of inability to pay differentiates charity care from bad debt. Bad debt lehigh valley physician group's bad debt at cost was $10,246,825. Bad debt is determined by either ability to pay but unwillingness to do so, or is the result of no determination of charity or bad debt status. Total - $75,493,082”

“Transfers to/from affiliates -86,750,833.”

“The audit committee of the board of trustees assumes responsibility for oversight of the audit and selection of an independent auditor.”