A broken payment system and the uneven application of federal regulations has undermined the U.S. health system and threatened Americans’ access to care, an American Hospital Association official said Jan. 25 during a panel discussion in Washington on the hospital financing system. Caroline Steinberg, AHA vice president for trends analysis, said the role of the full-service hospital is threatened by growing shortfalls for Medicare, Medicaid and services to the uninsured at the same time physician-owners are steering the more well-paid services to limited-service hospitals. This dynamic makes it difficult for full-service hospitals to pay for emergency departments and other services that are critical to their communities.
Steinberg said hospitals are eager to compete on the basis of quality and efficiency, and said banning self-referral to new physician-owned specialty hospitals would create an even playing field. The event was sponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform.
[ via AHA News ]
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