SAN ANTONIO — As Congress debated the healthcare bill, many critics lamented it would do little to transform a system in which doctors and hospitals bounce patients around in an uncoordinated, costly, sometimes tragic process.

But something unexpected has happened since President Obama signed the legislation in March. Spurred in part by the law, many independent providers across the country are racing to mold themselves into the kind of coordinated teams held up as models for improving care.

In some places, the scramble is so intense that physician groups and hospitals are putting aside rivalries and signing new partnerships almost daily.

‘It’s kind of like the Oklahoma land rush right now,’ said Patrick Carrier, a veteran hospital administrator who heads Christus Santa Rosa, a group of Catholic hospitals in San Antonio. ‘Everyone has their wagons lined up and they’re getting ready to go.’

Three of San Antonio’s hospital systems are competing to form alliances with local doctors who are giving up their private fee-for-service practices in exchange for paid positions on a hospital’s team.

Healthcare experts have long argued that such a unified approach to medical care offers the best hope for improving quality and saving money.

While a few institutions such as the Mayo Clinic […]