At least 15 physicians were fired from suburban Chicago's Edward-Elmhurst Health to cut costs. They were replaced with APRNs in select Immediate Care locations.  Hospital system CEO Mary Lou Mastro, MS, RN, and Chief Medical Officers Robert Payton, MD, and Daniel Sullivan, MD, in an Email to their medical staff, identified patient cost concerns as the reason for the move. "Patients have made it very clear that they want less costly care and convenient access for lower-acuity issues (sore throats, rashes, earaches), which are the vast majority of cases we treat in our Immediate Cares."

According to the Email, the action is part of the system's "vision of transforming the healthcare experience - safe, seamless and personal." 

The story in MedPage Today may be found here.