Business

IRS surveys nonprofit hospitals

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted June 26, 2006

Print  |   Email  |   Respond  |   Reprints  |   Like Facebook  |   Share Twitter  |   Tweet Linkedin

The Internal Revenue Service has sent letters to nearly 600 nonprofit hospitals seeking information about their executive compensation and community benefits practices. The letters, sent May 15 to randomly selected nonprofit hospitals, include a survey with 81 questions on topics such as whether the hospital operates an emergency department or training program, how much it spent on uncompensated care, and whether it includes bad debt in that calculation.

Though the IRS has been conducting similar so-called compliance checks in recent years in the broader world of nonprofit organizations, this is the first time the agency has specifically targeted hospitals.

Jack Reilly, a technical adviser with the tax-exempt section of the IRS, said the voluntary information would be used to help the agency examine what hospitals need to do to live up to the community benefits they promise in exchange for tax breaks.

The American Hospital Assn. says it hopes the IRS will also use as a resource a recent guide by the Catholic Health Assn. and Irving, Texas-based VHA about how to report and define community benefits.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/06/26/bibf0626.htm.

Back to top


ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISE HERE


Featured
Read story

Confronting bias against obese patients

Medical educators are starting to raise awareness about how weight-related stigma can impair patient-physician communication and the treatment of obesity. Read story


Read story

Goodbye

American Medical News is ceasing publication after 55 years of serving physicians by keeping them informed of their rapidly changing profession. Read story


Read story

Policing medical practice employees after work

Doctors can try to regulate staff actions outside the office, but they must watch what they try to stamp out and how they do it. Read story


Read story

Diabetes prevention: Set on a course for lifestyle change

The YMCA's evidence-based program is helping prediabetic patients eat right, get active and lose weight. Read story


Read story

Medicaid's muddled preventive care picture

The health system reform law promises no-cost coverage of a lengthy list of screenings and other prevention services, but some beneficiaries still might miss out. Read story


Read story

How to get tax breaks for your medical practice

Federal, state and local governments offer doctors incentives because practices are recognized as economic engines. But physicians must know how and where to find them. Read story


Read story

Advance pay ACOs: A down payment on Medicare's future

Accountable care organizations that pay doctors up-front bring practice improvements, but it's unclear yet if program actuaries will see a return on investment. Read story


Read story

Physician liability: Your team, your legal risk

When health care team members drop the ball, it's often doctors who end up in court. How can physicians improve such care and avoid risks? Read story

  • Stay informed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • LinkedIn