Business
HCA bolsters outpatient division
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 17, 2004
HCA Inc., hopes to tap into the lucrative business of diagnostic imaging and bolster its ambulatory surgery centers with a new corporate division dedicated to outpatient services.
The nation's largest hospital chain is entrusting the effort to Marilyn Tavenner, a longtime HCA executive who took the helm as group president for outpatient services on Jan. 1. She is charged with steering the new division, which is still taking shape.
HCA spokesman Jeff Prescott said the company previously had a division that was responsible for ambulatory surgery centers. However, a shift in patient trends prompted leaders to consider a new division with expanded focus.
"What happened is that in recent months we saw increasing volume in outpatient procedures in surgery centers and in imaging areas," he said. "We started to see business moving there, so we made the decision that we need to focus more of our company efforts in that arena."
Prescott said HCA has been a "significant player for some time" in the business of ambulatory surgery centers, with 79 ASCs nationwide. But he said the company doesn't have any centers that are dedicated to diagnostic imaging.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/05/17/bibf0517.htm.
