Under a new rule in the Health Care Law, doctors will not be allowed to own hospitals. There are only 260 hospitals in the United States that are owned by doctors and a statistics say that physician owned hospitals are cheaper, have better outcomes, provide more charity care, and pay taxes. Dr. Michael Russell, the owner of the Spine and Joint Hospital in Tyler, Texas is sueing the Obama Administration and claims this law will limit the hospital’s ability to “expand and compete.” This particular hospital in Tyler, Texas was ranked number one in Texas for spinal surgery.
Critics of the physician owned hospitals argue that there are more down sides to these hospitals than upsides. These hospitals are known for making their hospital appealing by providing a sense of comfort, such as serving wine and gourmet meals. It is said that 30% of these hospitals, although owned by doctors, rarely ever have a doctor on site and many don’t even have an emergency department. Basically the physician owned hospitals are more like a “quick care” facility rather than an actual legit hospital.
I understand both sides of the issue. I agree that if the doctor owned hospitals have better outcomes and provide a lot of charity care then they should be allowed to continue to operate. On the other hand, I don’t think they should be called hospitals if they don’t even have an emergency room. If they could come to a compromise on the issue I think it would be better than completely shutting them down. Maybe if the doctor owned hospitals had guidelines set by the Department of Health and Human Services that required having a doctor on the site at all times and were required to have some sort of emergency room it could an easy improvement made to the business. If these standards were not followed, the hospitals would have to label themselves as quick care facilities. I think that these issues can easily be worked out.
In the article “Doctor Sues Obama Over Health-Care Law,” Ms. Woodruff discusses the issue of how individual doctors are getting into trouble for owning their own hospitals. This rule went into effect with the new Health-Care plan that went through with the Obama administration. It is stated that 260 hospitals are doctor owned and many of these hospitals are very warm and welcoming. They provide good service and great customer service. Dr. Michael Russell of Tyler, Texas is suing Obama and is very displeased with this new law that denies doctors from owning hospitals.
ReplyDeleteMs. Woodruff states that 30% of these doctor owned hospitals, rarely have a doctor on site at all times and some do not even have an emergency room. Officials argue that with not meeting these requirements, these “hospitals” are not hospitals, but better called a “quick care” facility.
I agree with Ms. Woodruff for the most part because I do believe these warm inviting “hospitals” are nice and help with setting a good mood. The nice care and charity service that make sure the customer is taken care of is what most hospitals should do in my opinion. It is expensive to do for each customer, but myself personally, having been to the hospital a few times, know that for what I paid for my medical bills, I should be getting good service. I also agree that these hospitals need to have emergency rooms. That is a big part of being a hospital and without it, I think the facility does not deserve to get the title of being a hospital. If these provisions can be made, I believe that these private doctors will be able to operate very well and be able to compete with everyday hospitals and possibly drive the prices down for hospital services due to the competition.