ObamaCare cancels construction of 60 new PRIVATELY owned hospitals

CG hit the nail on the head!!!

In Wichita there are three major hospitals and according to BCBS more than 15 speciality hospitals. In western Kansas the small rural community hospitals are struggling to stay open; partly due to declining population, partly due to the trappings of specialty hospitals in larger metro areas.

K

Which is more efficient: the hospital setting or the outpatient surgery center? From what I see of the surgery centers in my area, people are in and out in the same day, and by 6 p.m. the parking lot is empty, sans the maintenance and cleaning people. Do the docs make more money in their own surgery centers, or more working in and for the hospital? I read frequently that hospitals are reducing beds, yet the overhead for those huge buildings has to be include somewhere in the billing to patients. Surgery centers seem to be viable option to keep down the cost to patient and provider.

JEV said:

Which is more efficient: the hospital setting or the outpatient surgery center? From what I see of the surgery centers in my area, people are in and out in the same day, and by 6 p.m. the parking lot is empty, sans the maintenance and cleaning people. Do the docs make more money in their own surgery centers, or more working in and for the hospital? I read frequently that hospitals are reducing beds, yet the overhead for those huge buildings has to be include somewhere in the billing to patients. Surgery centers seem to be viable option to keep down the cost to patient and provider.

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Hospitals provide outpatient surgery services that are as efficient as stand alone surgery center PLUS emergency care is on site in case the surgeon nicks something he wasn't supposed to. Of course the docs make more money in their own surgery centers. That is why they open them and that business moving away from hospitals is a big reason why they are reducing beds. I'm doubtful an outpatient bill from a stand alone surgery center is much different than that of the outpatient surgery bill from a hospital. The billing codes are the same.

BTW folks are in and out of hospital outpatient surgery centers same day as well.

CityGirl said:

Hospitals provide outpatient surgery services that are as efficient as stand alone surgery center PLUS emergency care is on site in case the surgeon nicks something he wasn't supposed to. Of course the docs make more money in their own surgery centers. That is why they open them and that business moving away from hospitals is a big reason why they are reducing beds. I'm doubtful an outpatient bill from a stand alone surgery center is much different than that of the outpatient surgery bill from a hospital. The billing codes are the same.

BTW folks are in and out of hospital outpatient surgery centers same day as well.

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It seems to me that the differences between your position and mine primarily lies in choices. Simply put, outpatient centers, not to be confused with doctor owned hospitals represent unwanted competition for other hospitals. As I read the originally posted article, new doctor owned hospitals, along with expansions of those already in place, are being placed under constraints so severe that they are no longer viable. and will not be built. In a time when the claim is made that 30 million new customers are being phased into the system, it makes no sense to limit new hospitals.

Last Friday, a good friend went to a doctor in the AM, diagnosed with a detached retina. Checked in to a surgical center in the PM, and went home in the evening. That was his choice and turned out well. Whether or not a referral to the clinic was issued is a mute point. Fact is, it was his choice, not the governments. The reason for the proliferation of these centers and hospitals is that they are able to compete, both in service and cost.

jimbo said:

It seems to me that the differences between your position and mine primarily lies in choices. Simply put, outpatient centers, not to be confused with doctor owned hospitals represent unwanted competition for other hospitals. As I read the originally posted article, new doctor owned hospitals, along with expansions of those already in place, are being placed under constraints so severe that they are no longer viable. and will not be built. In a time when the claim is made that 30 million new customers are being phased into the system, it makes no sense to limit new hospitals.

Last Friday, a good friend went to a doctor in the AM, diagnosed with a detached retina. Checked in to a surgical center in the PM, and went home in the evening. That was his choice and turned out well. Whether or not a referral to the clinic was issued is a mute point. Fact is, it was his choice, not the governments. The reason for the proliferation of these centers and hospitals is that they are able to compete, both in service and cost.

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I wasn't aware we had a difference in position and I don't think I have staked out a position one way or the other. What I've tried to show is how the proliferation of these outpatient service centers has an adverse effect on hospitals. When the revenue needed for expansion to provide more beds is channeled away from the hospitals, how can they expand their bed capacity? Outpatient surgery centers provide great income for the physicians who own them but they don't provide anything toward the care of inpatients and that is the care that is of the most expense to hospitals. They don't have the luxury of turning away patients or kicking them to the curb when their stay exceeds that covered by insurance.

And I agree with you about choices insofar as I think the choice is that you go where your chosen doctor provides the service and in most cases these days you choose your doctor from a list of doctors who choose to participate in your particular insurance plan.

In regards to the 60 hospitals, I think they should be built and I think they shouldn't be penalized the loss of medicare clients. They too will face the competition of outpatient surgery centers.

Getting bed space is the easy part. The nursing shortage will make it difficult to staff for these extra beds. Some hospitals have the beds but have closed some down because there are not enough nurses to safely provide care for those additional patients.

In the July/August 2009 Health Affairs, Dr. Peter Buerhaus and coauthors found that despite the current easing of the nursing shortage due to the recession, the U.S. nursing shortage is projected to grow to 260,000 registered nurses by 2025. A shortage of this magnitude would be twice as large as any nursing shortage experienced in this country since the mid-1960s. In the article titled The Recent Surge In Nurse Employment: Causes And Implications, the researchers point to a rapidly aging workforce as a primary contributor to the projected shortage.
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/media/FactSheets/NursingShortage.htm