What is the point of medical groups/IPA?

Hi everyone,

I recently signed my parents up for Clevercare Medicare Advantage plan and chose a PCP within a medical group called Noble AMA IPA. However, this PCP has insisted that my parents change their medical group to something called ChoiceOne IPA as soon as possible, simply because "it's better".

I've never understood the point of these medical groups. I've always just randomly chosen one for my insurance as well, as long as the doctors I choose are in-network with my insurance. When I looked up ChoiceOne I don't see much information; except that there are about 260 providers within 20 miles of where we live. The Noble AMA has about 300. And then I found another group called Prospect with has about 2000 providers. So should I choose the medical group with the highest number of providers? Or do they cost differently? Should we choose the ones that are affiliated with the Urgent Care or Hospitals near us?

I've tried to google the answer to this question but I can't find much. Any insight is much appreciated!

submitted by /u/Iciel-chan
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