http://healthcare-economist.com/2006/05/17/hospital-trends/ Tue, 22 May 2012 08:04:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://healthcare-economist.com/2006/05/17/hospital-trends/comment-page-1/#comment-67 doctor-owned hospitals - overrated focus factories but still worth keeping « nuts for healthcare: a healthcare blog Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:27:43 +0000 http://healthcare-economist.com/2006/05/17/hospital-trends/#comment-67 [...] 1990 and 2000, the number of hospitals contracted from 6,649 to 5,810 (net decrease of 839) as the number of mergers and acquisitions peaked in 1997 at 310.  Hospital [...] [...] 1990 and 2000, the number of hospitals contracted from 6,649 to 5,810 (net decrease of 839) as the number of mergers and acquisitions peaked in 1997 at 310.  Hospital [...]

]]> http://healthcare-economist.com/2006/05/17/hospital-trends/comment-page-1/#comment-66 Rational Actor Wed, 17 May 2006 18:40:22 +0000 http://healthcare-economist.com/2006/05/17/hospital-trends/#comment-66 There is some missing data (which may not be available) -- has there been a shift in delivery of outpatient services from providers unaffiliated with acute care hospitals to providers who are affiliated with acute care hospitals? I don't know how the landscape breaks down for surgery centers overall, but there are definitely some that are partnerships between hospitals, docs and third parties. The same goes for o/p imaging services. Also, there are some services that clearly can not be provided by the outpatient provider. For these services, the argument in your final sentence would seem to be irrelevant. In general, I don't think that pure monopoly pricing is an issue; it is more one of oligopoly pricing, combined with a system that forces people into poorly designed insurance plans by virtue of the significant "discounts" off of gross charges that are offered to the insurers. but not the individual.... There is some missing data (which may not be available) — has there been a shift in delivery of outpatient services from providers unaffiliated with acute care hospitals to providers who are affiliated with acute care hospitals? I don’t know how the landscape breaks down for surgery centers overall, but there are definitely some that are partnerships between hospitals, docs and third parties. The same goes for o/p imaging services.
Also, there are some services that clearly can not be provided by the outpatient provider. For these services, the argument in your final sentence would seem to be irrelevant.
In general, I don’t think that pure monopoly pricing is an issue; it is more one of oligopoly pricing, combined with a system that forces people into poorly designed insurance plans by virtue of the significant “discounts” off of gross charges that are offered to the insurers. but not the individual….

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