The criticisms of physician-owned specialty hospitals are chiefly that they receive the same tax breaks and insurance payments as do traditional hospitals, but don't provide the same breadth of care (no labor and delivery, no emergency care), and that they are rife with conflicts of interest. Periodically, the federal government has imposed moratoriums on physician ownership, but even so, the number of facilities has grown. Now, a provision of the Affordable Care Act bans the construction of new physician-owned hospitals that do not receive Medicare certification before Dec. 31; existing physician-owned facilities have been prohibited from expanding since the law was enacted on March 23.
Dr. Jack Lewin, CEO of the American College of Cardiology, talks about the upcoming ban on physician-owned specialty hospitals.
The contrary position is that specialty hospitals provide services at a higher quality and a competitive cost, which benefit patients. If legitimate problems were caused by the introduction of a hospital into a community, it would be better to address the concern in approving the new facility rather than to create an outright ban, which is all too often simply an anticompetitive effort of the existing traditional hospital.
CNN: Critics claim improper referrals and higher procedure rates among their reasons to ban physician-owned hospitals. The ACC is against a ban. What is the argument for physician ownership?
CNN: How can physicians ensure that appropriate and high-quality care is being delivered at specialty hospitals?
CNN: Does the ACC support legal challenges to the coming ban on physician ownership?
CNN: What would the ACC propose as an alternative to the ban?
'Thoughtful policies' can address concerns related to physician-owned specialty hospitals.
Source DR. LEWIN