1. What has happened with this debate since mid-2006?
The growth of specialty hospitals became a debate because of physician ownership took up 70% of specialty hospitals and viewed it against local full service community hospitals. In November 2003 Congress saw concern with specialty hospitals on the healthcare system where they passed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act. This act held an 18 month moratorium for new enrollment applicants. The moratorium focused on the specific harm physician-owned specialty hospitals caused their competitors but not it’s the reasons of difference between specialty and non-specialty. Two to Three years later the moratorium expired and CMS proposed the MedPAC.
Another part of the debate was that CMS's proposal to implement a rule that specialty hospitals would be required to accept transfers of patients under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. Specialty hospitals are less likely to have an emergency room or offer twenty-four hour emergency care like a community hospital would. The real debate was revenue because specialty hospitals are likely to steal future patient revenue away from the non-specialty hospitals in their market. Thus, facilities with specialization allow specialty hospitals to manage hospital resources more successfully. “The challenge to policymakers is to find a way to inspire competition, while also ensuring that regulatory gaps are not unfairly exploited.” (David N. Heard, 2005)
2. How might one try to come to an objective conclusion?
`One objective would be whether or not physician owned specialty hospitals have an unfair advantage or a great promotion in the healthcare market. The point of the moratorium was to make a ban on p...
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Works Cited
David N. Heard, J. (2005). THE SPECIALTY HOSPITAL DEBATE: THE DIFFICULTY OF PROMOTING FAIR COMPETITION WITHOUT STIFLING EFFICIENCY. HOUS. J. HEALTH L. & POL’Y , 215-243. Retrieved from https://www.law.uh.edu/hjhlp/Issues/Vol_61/Heard.pdf
Lowes, R. (2011, October 6). MedPac Recommends New 'Doc Fix'. Retrieved from MedScape: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/751097
Pyrek, K. M. (2005, May 1). MedPAC Recommends Extending Specialty Hospital Moratorium; ASHA Continues to Advocate Through Its ‘Truth’ Campaign. Retrieved from Surgi Strategies: http://www.surgistrategies.com/articles/2005/05/medpac-recommends-extending-specialty-hospital-mo.aspx
United States Government Accountability Office [GAO] 2005. “Specialty Hospitals: Information on Potential Facilities.” GAO-05-647R. Washington, DC: GAO http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2654166/#!po=3.84615
Dawson, D. (1995) ‘Regulating Competition in the NHS.’ The Centre for Health Economics (University of York.)
Bigger hospitals increasing market share Loss of Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement Decline in revenue Loss of patients
It is enthralling to note that in spite of the advances in healthcare systems, such as our hospital’s ability to provide patients with lower cost, managed One being the Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO), which was first proposed in the 1960s by Dr. Paul Elwood in the "Health Maintenance Strategy”. The HMO concept was created to decrease increasing health care costs and was set in law as the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973, after promotion from the Nixon Administration. HMO would, in exchange for a fee, allow members access to employed physicians and facilities. In return, the HMO received market access and could earn federal development funds.
Showalter, J. S. (2007). Southwick’s the law of hospital & health care administration, 5th ed.
Davidson, Stephen M. Still Broken: Understanding the U.S. Health Care System. Stanford, CA: Stanford Business, 2010. Print.
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