Chutes & Ladders: MedCath CEO steps down

After just moving into the role as CEO of MedCath at the start of the month, Charlie Slaton has left to "pursue other opportunities." Chairman and former CEO John T. Casey is back in the CEO role, at least temporarily. MedCath announced yesterday that revenue estimates for the year ending September 30 would be between $756 million and $758 million, well below previous forecasts of $760 million to $780 million. MedCath owns a chain of heart surgery hospitals and has been a catalyst for the argument over specialty hospitals.

Coincidentally, on Tuesday Health Affairs published an article by Georgetown Professor Jean Mitchell which looked at six years of Arizona data. Her study suggests that, as community hospitals have long suspected, doctors who are part-owners of cardiac specialty hospitals (including one part-owned by MedCath) treat low-acuity, high-profit cases in their own facilities and refer the more complex, lower-profit cases to community hospitals. Health Affairs also has a response from some consultants at Lewin who have worked with MedCath's data and say that Mitchell's methodology is flawed.

- see this article from the Associated Press
- see this press release from Health Affairs

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