opinion
Physician-owned facilities would counterbalance tax-exempt hospitals
Posted Feb. 1, 2010
Regarding "Will bundling include doctors?" (link): American Medical News accurately describes the potential impact bundling will have on physicians. There will be instances where hospitals and physicians work together to bundle services to save money.
But in many cases, the hospitals will determine where savings occur. The ideal solution would be for physicians to own hospitals to provide a counterbalance to the fact that tax-exempt hospitals can employ physicians. Pending health care legislation would eliminate the future development of physician-owned hospitals. This may be a turning point in physicians still being in the driver's seat for health care decisions. The long-term impact on physicians will be many times what is anticipated today.
Gregory E. Sutton, MD, Lincoln, Neb.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/02/01/edlt0201.htm.