PhyCor Planning to Sell Assets of Clinics

PhyCor Inc., once one of the biggest U.S. managers of doctor’s practices, said it doesn’t expect to have any equity after it sells assets of its clinics to pay debt and it may be delisted by the Nasdaq Stock Market. PhyCor shares fell 30 cents to close at 27 cents. The company, based in Nashville, has lost 94% of its value in the last year. PhyCor is taking second- and third-quarter charges of $350 million to $450 million as it writes off assets in its clinic-management unit and ends some service agreements. Physician groups operating most of PhyCor’s 27 clinics are expected to buy all or part of the assets they previously sold to PhyCor. Physician practice management companies buy up doctors’ practices, handle administrative matters and represent them with managed-care companies in return for a fee or a percentage of the doctors’ income. The industry has struggled to deal with rising health-care costs following rapid growth. After PhyCor sells its interest in the clinics, it will operate North American Medical Management, an IPA network, and PhySys, a unit that provides management services to medical groups. The company said it’s also considering a reverse stock split. *

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