Facing increase debate from Washington, D.C., and restrictions from healthcare reform, physician-owned hospitals are beginning to look like an endangered component of the healthcare industry. Statistics and physician advocates, however, continue to prove the value and significance of physician-owned hospitals, saying they deliver care in ways other hospitals might not.
Here are five points mentioned in a report from D Magazine that support physician-owned hospitals and the role they play in the healthcare industry.
1. Quality over quantity. While there are a small number of physician-owned hospitals, they consistently rank high when it comes to cleanliness, pain control, communication pre- and post-op and patient satisfaction. Physician-owned facilities ranked first in 20 states despite comprising only 5 percent of the hospitals nationwide, according to a study by Consumer Reports cited in the report.
2. Increased accountability. Advocates say patients receive better and safer care when providers have something financially invested in positive outcomes. Many physician-owned hospital supporters also say these facilities weed out subpar hospitals through competition.
3. Less hierarchy. Michael Russell, MD, president of Physician Hospitals of America, said physicians take an active role in management and have immediate decision-making power at physician-owned hospitals. "There is immediate feedback without going through the hierarchy of a large hospital," Dr. Russell said in the report.
4. Less red tape. Physicians can directly organize procedures to improve surgeries based on clinical knowledge. At Baylor Frisco Hospital in Texas, physicians send kits to patients before surgery with a sterile cloth to clean the affected area to keep infection rates low. Baylor Frisco has a 0.04 percent infection rate.
5. Increased OR efficiency. Dr. Russell says a day of surgeries at a traditional hospital can take him two hours longer than at a physician-owned hospital, according to the report. Surgeries are more efficient since physicians can organize operating teams, which can be so cohesive enough that staff and physicians grow accustomed to one another's work patterns and habits.
Read more about physician-owned hospitals:
- Physician-Owned Hospital Advocates Head to Capitol Hill Seeking Section 6001 Reversal
- New Bills Would Repeal Ban on Physician-Owned Hospitals
Here are five points mentioned in a report from D Magazine that support physician-owned hospitals and the role they play in the healthcare industry.
1. Quality over quantity. While there are a small number of physician-owned hospitals, they consistently rank high when it comes to cleanliness, pain control, communication pre- and post-op and patient satisfaction. Physician-owned facilities ranked first in 20 states despite comprising only 5 percent of the hospitals nationwide, according to a study by Consumer Reports cited in the report.
2. Increased accountability. Advocates say patients receive better and safer care when providers have something financially invested in positive outcomes. Many physician-owned hospital supporters also say these facilities weed out subpar hospitals through competition.
3. Less hierarchy. Michael Russell, MD, president of Physician Hospitals of America, said physicians take an active role in management and have immediate decision-making power at physician-owned hospitals. "There is immediate feedback without going through the hierarchy of a large hospital," Dr. Russell said in the report.
4. Less red tape. Physicians can directly organize procedures to improve surgeries based on clinical knowledge. At Baylor Frisco Hospital in Texas, physicians send kits to patients before surgery with a sterile cloth to clean the affected area to keep infection rates low. Baylor Frisco has a 0.04 percent infection rate.
5. Increased OR efficiency. Dr. Russell says a day of surgeries at a traditional hospital can take him two hours longer than at a physician-owned hospital, according to the report. Surgeries are more efficient since physicians can organize operating teams, which can be so cohesive enough that staff and physicians grow accustomed to one another's work patterns and habits.
Read more about physician-owned hospitals:
- Physician-Owned Hospital Advocates Head to Capitol Hill Seeking Section 6001 Reversal
- New Bills Would Repeal Ban on Physician-Owned Hospitals