None of the seven leading private equity-affiliated hospitals ranked on the Lown Institute Index received an "A" grade for the value of care provided to patients.
The Boston-based healthcare advocacy nonprofit created the Lown Hospitals Index of Social Responsibility to measure hospital performance on more than 50 metrics related to value, equity and outcomes.
In addition to lackluster grades for value of care, the evaluation's 2024 results, which were released June 25, show that among seven health systems currently or recently owned by private equity firms, only one received an A in outcomes: Prospect Medical Holdings in Los Angeles.
The seven systems the Lown Institute evaluated — Ardent Health Services in Nashville, Tenn; Lifepoint Health in Nashville, Tenn.; Pipeline Health in El Segundo, Calif.; Quorum Health in Brentwood, Tenn.; ScionHealth in Louisville, Ky.; Steward Health Care System in Dallas; and Prospect Medical Holdings — did, however, perform better in the categories of equity and social responsibility.
Lacking better scores in the outcomes and values categories falls in line with other national data on private equity-owned hospitals across the U.S., revealing concerning statistics around patient safety and quality of care at these types of hospitals.
While private equity-owned hospital acquisitions have surged throughout the last decade, their benchmarks have not had the same trajectory. Harvard researchers published a study in December 2023 comparing these hospitals to non-equity-owned hospitals and found that "private equity acquisition was associated with a 25.4% increase in hospital-acquired conditions."
Since then, throughout 2024 a handful of these systems have been in the throes of legal and financial battles as well. Steward Health has filed for bankruptcy protection, is being investigated for possible bribery, and the system's CEO has been subpoenaed to testify. Prospect Medical is facing difficulties in selling three hospitals it acquired in Connecticut. And Lifepoint is being investigated for allegedly not providing cancer patients with treatment based on insurance coverage.
Here's how the Lown Institute ranked seven private equity-owned systems in order of value:
- Prospect Medical Holdings - B
- Ardent Health Services - C
- Lifepoint Health - C
- Quorum Health - C
- ScionHealth - C
- Steward Health Care System - C
- Pipeline Health - D
Here's how the the Lown Institute ranked seven systems in order of outcomes:
- Prospect Medical Holdings - A
- Ardent Health Services - B
- Lifepoint Health - C
- Pipeline Health - C
- ScionHealth - C
- Steward Health Care System - C
- Quorum Health - D