Why can't physicians own hospitals?

It’s only fair: “If it’s OK for individuals to own their own grocery stores, insurance companies, real estate offices, it ought to be OK for the doctors to have an equity interest in the hospitals. You just take care of something better if you have an investment yourself.”

Comments

Marky
It’s a financial conflict of interest that will jeopardize the safety and quality of care provided to the public.
cjd
Because. . . you say so?
blackjoel1307
BayCare Clinic out of Green Bay, Wisconsin is physician owned…
Michael Rack, MD
marky, in most cases I don’t think that safety or quality is jeapordized. I think the main percieved problem is the possibility of over-utilization.
Guy
how come car dealers get to own repair shops, isn’t that a question of possible overutilization.
what about pharmacists owing pharmacies, why do we have to be restricted like no other business in the us.
Toni Brayer MD
Specialists (GI, ENT, Anesthesia, Surgery, Radiology) can all joint venture with hospitals and other capital partners to own Ambulatory Surgery Centers and Imaging Centers. Primary care doctors are prohibited from these lucrative investments due to “conflict of interest regarding referrals”. This makes no sense to me. The specialist decides where to take his surgical or procedure case but somehow that is not a conflict. I think the specialty lobby is stronger than the ACP. There is an unfairness here that further disadvantages primary care in the capitalistic marketplace that we seem to love so much.
44
The stats don’t bear you out Marky. Most say exactly the opposite.
John
Over-utilization is the bugbear of all hospitals, regardless who owns them, public, private, non-profit or for-profit. Hospitals lose money when over-utilizing, because Medicare and private insurers will cut off payments automatically at predetermined times after admission depending on the admitting diagnosis. There are whole departments tasked to monitor utilization as a measure of costs-containment. In most every hospital, a stay exceeding one day will trigger a visit from the utilization review nurse and a call to the attending doctor if there is any question whether the patient could be managed outside the hospital. URCs will even force discharge AMA in cases where patients have diagnoses thought managable as outpatients even where one of the indications for admission was failed outpatient management.

Why can’t physicians own hospitals?

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