Looney, Fasano want more transparency in hospital costs, cap on facility fees

[Disir]

I keep saying that consolidation has a huge impact on medical cost and I don't think that a whole lot of folks are seeing this.
Looney Fasano want more transparency in hospital costs cap on facility fees

 

[Greenbeard]

To play Devil's Advocate, the argument for consolidation the hospital types will give you is that health care delivery is changing. Payment is moving away from fee-for-service (churn more people through or churn out more services to increase your revenue) and toward payment models linked to preserving or improving the health of the population served (keep/get people healthy, slow cost growth and maintain your revenue stream). Hospitals are becoming anchors of a more coordinated approach to service delivery and in order to fully meet the health needs of their patient populations, some degree of vertical integration is needed.

This is from a hospital CEO making that argument in the WSJ: Hospital Mergers Can Lower Costs and Improve Medical Care

Stand-alone hospitals have neither the number of patients to manage the actuarial risk of population management, nor the geographic coverage to serve a large population. Hence the reason for allowing strategic hospital mergers.

Population health management means services must be coordinated so that primary-care physicians, specialists and hospital departments work together with all caregivers familiar with a patient's unique needs and status. This requires hospital systems to provide a full suite of services for their patient populations, warranting expansion through acquisitions of other hospitals, as well as physician medical practices and outpatient clinics.

Hospitals will also need to track patient conditions and treatments through sophisticated electronic medical records, which requires major technology investments. Additionally, hospitals must add an army of care coordinators to serve as the backbone of an integrated-care team. These are expensive investments that large hospital systems can bear far more readily than stand-alone facilities.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

Would it not be just wonderful if hospitals did what they were supposed to do.

 

[Manonthestreet]

All monopolists agree

 

[Sun Devil 92]

All monopolists agree

With what ?

 

[Manonthestreet]

Less competition will equal lower costs....until it doesnt ever of course but by then why the competition is gone ....oh well

 

[Sun Devil 92]

Less competition will equal lower costs....until it doesnt ever of course but by then why the competition is gone ....oh well

Correct...government does not support competition.

They want things streamlined.....the fewer entities to deal with...the better.