Physician-owned hospitals saved $1.1 billion in 2019 compared to traditional facilities, according to a recent report analyzing the cost of 20 of the most expensive conditions for Medicare patients.
The research found that Medicare programs saved between 8.6% and 15.2% when compared to traditional hospitals. The report was spearheaded by Robert Aseltine Jr., PhD, a professor at Farmington, Conn.-based UConn Health, and Gregory Matthews, PhD, an associate professor at Loyola University Chicago.
"If traditional hospitals provided care at the same cost as POHs in their area, they could achieve substantial savings to Medicare across these medical services and potentially other areas of medical care," the report, which analyzed data from 186 physician-owned hospitals, said.
The data contrasts with reports from groups such as the American Hospital Association, which argue that physician-owned hospitals cherry-pick patients and defer emergent care to community providers.