Senators and representatives can ask the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) to look into issues of public interest. One of Washington State’s solons, Rep. Jim McDermott, has asked for a study of consolidation — hospital mergers and also the acquisition of physician practices and outpatient facilities by hospitals. Rep. McDermott has a concern about hospital costs, facility fees in particular, but also the clout exercised by large entities in a market. The commissioning of this project has just been announced, so the release of the GAO report is somewhere down the pike a ways, but it will be interesting when it comes out.
Source: Bauman, V. Congressman McDermott asks: are bigger hospitals better for patients? Puget Sound Business Journal, Aug. 19, 2013. Click here for full text: http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/health-care-inc/2013/08/congressman-mcdermott-asks-can.html?s=print Posted by AHA Resource Center (312) 422-2050, rc@aha.org
Filed under: Mergers and acquisitions, Posted by Kim Garber | Tagged: Hospital acquisitions, Hospital consolidation, Hospital owned practices |
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