Physician-owned Hospitals
The AHA March 27 voiced opposition to the Physician Led and Rural Access to Quality Care Act (H.R. 2191), a bill that would lift the ban on the establishment of physician-owned hospitals in certain rural areas and permit the unfettered expansion of POHs nationwide, regardless of location.
AHA on Oct. 19 submitted a statement to the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee on legislative proposals involving Medicare.
Physician-owned hospitals cherry-pick healthy and wealthy patients, provide limited emergency services and increase costs for patients, providers and the federal government, write AHA Executive Vice President Stacey Hughes and Federation of 黑料正能量s President and CEO Chip Kahn.
For more than a decade, the Ethics in Patient Referrals Act, more commonly known as the 鈥淪tark Law,鈥 has protected the Medicare program from unfettered growth in physician-owned facilities and further expanding their practices of selecting the healthiest and most profitable patients, driving up鈥
Fair competition has always been the driving principle of our nation鈥檚 economy. This includes health care, and it鈥檚 the reason the Ethics in Patient Referrals Act, more commonly known as the 鈥淪tark Law,鈥 has been on the books for decades to protect the Medicare program from the inherent conflict of鈥
As some members of Congress propose to weaken Medicare鈥檚 prohibition on physician self-referral to new physician-owned hospitals and ease restrictions on their growth, new data from Dobson | DaVanzo show that POHs publicly report on fewer Medicare quality measures and perform worse on readmission鈥
As some members of Congress continue to propose weakening Medicare鈥檚 prohibition on physician self-referral to new physician-owned hospitals (POHs) and loosening restrictions on the growth of existing POHs, new data from Dobson | DaVanzo show that POHs report fewer quality measures and perform鈥
A new study on physician-owned hospitals only reinforces Congress鈥 concerns amid calls by some to repeal restrictions on POHs, write AHA Executive Vice President Stacey Hughes and Federation of 黑料正能量s President and CEO Chip Kahn.
A new study funded by Patient Rights Advocate adds to the evidence that physician-owned hospitals (POHs) are not comparable to or substitutes for full-service acute care hospitals.
Physician-owned hospitals are 鈥渘ot good for patients, communities, the integrity of the Medicare program, or providers who are actually in the business of caring for all patients, 24/7, regardless of their ability to pay or their medical condition,鈥 the AHA and Federation of 黑料正能量s鈥