New London - The independent, private practice doctor running his or her own office may soon become an obsolete artifact of an earlier era, a model no longer practical or desirable for today's world.

"It's an acknowledged fact that the private practice is dying," general surgeon Dr. Dean Willis said last week.

Willis and his partners in General Surgical Associates, on Faire Harbour Place, are among local doctors considering joining a new nonprofit group medical practice organization run by Lawrence & Memorial Hospital.

The Lawrence & Memorial Physicians Association would take over the private practices' administrative, billing, and organizational functions, leaving the doctors more time to focus on providing medical care and less on paperwork, insurance, employee and financial issues, said Dr. Dan Rissi, vice president and chief medical and clinical operations officer at L&M.

The new organization is particularly suited to the preferences of younger doctors, he said, who tend to be less interested in running an independent medical practice, and as such will help attract new doctors to the region.

"The reality is that most new doctors are looking for employment, not private practice," Rissi said. "Many of their needs and obligations as physicians can be better addressed through a larger organization."

The new organization, formed last month as a subsidiary of the L&M Corporation, replaces Sound Medical Associates, the hospital's consortium of nine primary care and internal medicine practices throughout the region. Joining the Sound Medical practices in the new organization are speciality practices, such as that of New London cardiologist Dr. Jon Gaudio. Negotiations are under way with local neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeon groups, among others, Rissi added.

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