From:
Province Healthcare, Compliance and Ethics Update
A corporate compliance newsletter – December 2003

GAO ISSUES REPORT ON SPECIALTY HOSPITAL PROBLEMS

The General Accounting Office (GAO) released a report on specialty hospitals and it confirmed what those in acute-care hospitals have been saying. The GAO found that specialty facilities rarely have emergency departments; they treat few patients with Medicaid; they locate in areas with the greatest growth potential; they provide only high profit services; and their profit margins are far greater than acute-care hospitals. The GAO confirmed the need for Congress to pass the Breaux-Nickles-Lincoln amendment which would make it a crime for physicians to refer patients to specialty hospitals in which they have an ownership interest. The GAO stated if Congress fails to act to solve the problem of specialty hospitals that access to acute-care hospitals and their wide array of services will be “undermined.”

© 2001 - Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital
Website design by: K Schoppe-Hine

Disclaimer and Use Agreement