Study reaffirms need for ban on self-referral to physician-owned hospitals  

Compared to other hospitals, physician-owned hospitals treat less medically complex and more financially lucrative patients, provide fewer emergency services and treat fewer COVID-19 cases, according to data from health care consulting firm Dobson | Davanzo released today by the AHA and Federation of American Hospitals. 
 
In addition, POHs have patient care margins over 15 times higher than other hospitals, render less uncompensated care, treat far fewer patients dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare, and are five times more likely to receive the maximum penalty for readmissions from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the analysis found. 
 
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General, Government Accountability Office, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and others have previously documented similar conflicts of interest inherent in POHs, which led Congress in 2010 to ban physicians from referring patients to new hospitals in which they have an ownership interest.   
 
“The growth of physician-owned hospitals was restricted by Congress for good reasons and those remain valid today as this analysis shows,” said AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack. “Physician-owned hospitals undermine our nation’s health care safety-net and jeopardize access to care by cherry-picking the most profitable cases and avoiding patients with complex conditions and lower-reimbursing coverage.”