End of year brings woe to physician-owned hospitals
September 23rd, 2010
As the end of the year approaches, restrictions on the expansion of physician-owned hospitals – part of the healthcare reform law passed in March – will begin to take effect.
New doctor-owned facilities must be certified as Medicare participants by Dec. 31, 2010, or they will not be allowed into the program; and the law will put immediate restrictions on the growth of presently existing physician-owned facilities.
The reform law also includes caps on physician ownership, the repeal of some exceptions to Stark self-referral bans, and more disclosure of potential conflicts of interest when physicians send patients to facilities in which they have ownership.
Physician-owned facilities have found themselves in lawmakers’ sights before, and the new restrictions reflect the view that physician-owned facilities create conflicts of interest and that they cherry-pick the more profitable patients, straining community facilities.
Advocates of physician-owned hospital argue that the physician-owned model provides high-quality alternatives to patients in the marketplace, especially as physicians have more control over patient care and less competition from administration.
One lawsuit has been filed U.S. Federal Court in Texas, challenging the constitutionality of section of the law which would limit the expansion plans of a physician-owned facility.
Many physician investors await the results of the November elections, in the hope that a shift in the political make-up of Congress might help the situation before the end of the year.
Find more detailed information at American Medical News.
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