The contract between the parties is set to end March 1.

“Our desire is to have the contract renewed,” said Stephanie Gibson, vice president of managed care for Hillcrest HealthCare System. “We are still in negotiations with them, and we hope to continue to reach a fair and equitable outcome.”

She said CommunityCare’s proposed reimbursement levels were so low that the Hillcrest system would be unable to sustain the level and quality of medical care it provides. CommunityCare set the termination date, she said.

“We have been working with them in good faith. They are asking us to take a significant decrease in current reimbursement levels,” Gibson said. “We are not asking for something unreasonable.”

She said CommunityCare’s current reimbursement rates are competitive. “It is very costly to provide services and costly for our patients to receive them,” Gibson said.

At least 20,000 northeastern Oklahomans who are insured by CommunityCare will be affected if an agreement isn’t reached, she said. Patients of about 150 doctors employed by the Hillcrest system may have to seek new physicians, she said.

Hillcrest took out a two-page advertisement in the Tulsa World on Sunday to make the announcement. It displayed photos of most of the system’s doctors and encouraged people insured by CommunityCare or Preferred Community Choice to switch health plans to keep their primary care physician or specialist.

“CommunityCare regrets the unprofessional tactics used by Hillcrest in its ad in Sunday’s Tulsa World,” the Oklahoma-based company said in a written statement. “It is not CommunityCare’s policy to take its contract negotiations public.”

CommunityCare officials declined further comment until negotiations are completed. According to the company’s Web site, Preferred Community Choice PPO is a joint venture between St. John Medical Center and St. Francis Hospital. The company’s CommunityCare HMO is owned and operated by the two Tulsa hospitals, the Web site said.

Gibson said CommunityCare initiated negotiations with Hillcrest last fall and reached an impasse on reimbursement levels at the end of January.

The two parties agreed to extend negotiations another 30 days, but were still at odds last week.

“We felt we needed to inform the community about the pending termination of the contract with CommunityCare and put out a call to action,” she said.

In the advertisement, Hillcrest asked people insured by CommunityCare to go to their human resource representatives to request continued access to Hillcrest hospitals or doctors, perhaps through alternative health insurance plans.

It also asked patients to urge CommunityCare to pay reasonable rates to Hillcrest physicians.

“We’re continuing to work with CommunityCare and hope to reach a reasonable and fair outcome on this,” Gibson said.

If the contract is terminated, the last in-network day will be Feb. 28, Gibson said. Even physicians that aren’t employed by Hillcrest could be affected if they have privileges there, she said.

“This really has a potentially large impact,” Gibson said.

Hillcrest HealthCare System is owned by Ardent Health Services of Nashville, Tenn. Hillcrest soon is expected to transfer its ownership of OSU Medical Center to a city public trust.

Kim Archer 581-8315 kim.archer@tulsaworld.com