Baylor Health Care System is defending its decision to contract with a single anesthesia group to provide services at Dallas's Baylor University Medical Center, despite protests from a local legislator, according to a report in The Dallas Morning News.
Baylor entered into the agreement with Pinnacle Anesthesia Consultants in Jan. 2009 after spending millions in subsidies to encourage anesthesiologists to perform services on uninsured patients, according to the report. Although Pinnacle still receives a subsidy to work on uninsured patients, anesthesiologists with the group no longer can pick and choose which patients to treat, and the subsidy will decrease to zero with each year of Pinnacle's four-year contract with Baylor.
Texas State Rep. Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills) argues that Baylor's decision to contract with only one group will drive up costs and reduce competition in the area, according to the report. Baylor officials say that the number of anesthesiologists at a hospital does not affect on costs for the patient.
Experts interviewed in the report cited similar cases where groups not contracted with the hospital have sued under the Stark Law. As a result, the experts advised hospitals to periodically review their contracts with exclusive provider, such as Baylor's agreement with Pinnacle.
Read the Morning News's report on Baylor's anesthesia contract.