Paige K Covell, CMPE

My background in medical practice management is rather expansive and I’ve found a narrative form best describes it. In a nutshell, my family has serviced the needs of physicians and hospitals for over 50 years and through three generations. In 1954 my grandmother founded The Spring Group in Los Angeles. My father joined the firm in 1961 and I followed suit in 1982. Originally established as a small business providing billing and collecting services for anesthesiologists, Spring metamorphosed into a full practice management service for physicians of multiple disciplines.

I have worked with physicians on a broad spectrum of needs over my own 26 years in the business. I worked in all departments at Spring on a track designed to learn all facets of the industry, starting with billing, coding, pricing and scheduling. Promoted to Vice President in March of 1987, my activities expanded to include interviewing prospective clients, assisting them in acquiring professional liability coverage, finding locum tenens (freelance) and permanent positions, appraising and negotiating contracts with physicians, hospitals and third-party payors and counseling in areas of professional and personal nature.

Through the years I have directly guided physicians and hospital Administrators on directorship contracting and group amalgamation efforts, advising on entity structure, income distribution methodology and subcontracting with new associates. Independent Anesthesia IPA of California and Independent Anesthesia IPA of Arizona were subsidiaries of Spring, and for each of which I served as President. These entities were developed to specifically assist anesthesiologists, whether or not clients of Spring, in their negotiating efforts with third-party payors. This was a facet of physician representation that went beyond the simple boundaries of Spring clientage, which doubled with my involvement. Spring was servicing close to nine hundred physicians in ten states when the company was sold and I departed in November of 1996. Since then I have continued to render services on a consulting basis.

In addition to my post with The Spring Group, I have served on California Society of Anesthesiologists' Impaired Physicians Committee and have been accepted as a Physician Monitor with California Medical Board's Diversion Program for Impaired Physicians. I have been Certified by the American College of Medical Practice Executives and qualified as an expert witness in medical practice management in Superior Court of California.