The Debate Over Physician Owned Hospitals

florida healthcare law firm physician owned hospitals

florida healthcare law firm physician owned hospitalsBy: Dave Davidson

The debate over the pro’s and con’s of physician-owned hospitals has been raging for decades. Physician-owners say their hospitals are more patient-focused, provide higher quality care, obtain better outcomes and therefore receive higher patient satisfaction scores. They also point out their convenience and efficiency.

Opponents argue that physician-ownership leads to overutilization and cherry-picking of only the best patients. The less-desirable patients (both clinically and financially) are then left to be taken care of by the community hospitals. For those reasons, both the American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals remain strongly opposed to physician-owned hospitals.

Federally, the Stark Law includes an exception which allows a physician to refer patients to a hospital in which the physician has an ownership interest, so long as the ownership interest is in the entire hospital, and not just a subdivision of the hospital. However, in 2010, the federal government weighed in again on the issue, and passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which includes provisions which (i) restrict physician referrals to hospitals in which they hold an ownership interest; (ii) restrict any increases in physician-ownership of a hospital; and (iii) restrict expansion of physician-owned hospital facilities. CMS has granted exceptions to these restrictions, but those have been limited to rural hospitals and high Medicaid hospitals, and attempts to amend the law have failed.Continue reading

Attorney Steven Boyne Joins Florida Healthcare Law Firm in Delray Beach, Florida

florida healthcare law firm managed care attorneyJune 1, 2020 – Florida Healthcare Law Firms adds experienced attorney Steven Boyne to the team to assist with human resource law, corporate and transactional law, as well as telemedicine, healthcare tech and cyber breaches.

Florida Healthcare Law Firm has announced that they have added Steven Boyne to the team. Steven brings over twenty plus years experience working with different types of healthcare entities from Air Ambulances to large healthcare insurance companies, and everything in between. Steven specializes in areas including specific healthcare business human resource issues, telemedicine and HIPAA, strategic disaster planning for healthcare providers, business interruption insurance, health insurance and air ambulances.

“Positioning your healthcare business to be proactive is one of the most important things you can do. Who would have imagined we’d see a global pandemic in our lifetime? Being prepared for ‘interruptions’ help keep your business afloat when disaster strikes, especially when it comes to finances. Steven’s experience in large health insurance companies brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise that will help individual practitioners be just as prepared as the big guys. And, as technology grows in the healthcare industry, Steven is on board to help with his tech expertise,” Florida Healthcare Law Firm COO Autumn Piccolo says. Founder and President, Jeff Cohen, goes on to say that, “We advise many clients on telemedicine and telehealth laws. Steven’s passion for tech is a great addition for current and future clients. His unique firsthand knowledge on cyberbreaches, tech software and security systems is hyper-specific, which will benefit healthcare business owners.Continue reading