When hospitals buy physician practices, rates soar, insurers say. The growing trend of hospital-practice mergers can spell more dollar signs when it comes to insurers' rates and to patients' out-of-pocket costs. For instance, after undergoing a buyout from the Nevada-based Renown Health system, a cardiologist practice charged an insurer $1,605 for a routine echocardiogram, compared to only $373 six months earlier, a patient told The Wall Street Journal. Providers say the higher costs are associated with billing as outpatient procedures, as well as investments into electronic health records, the newspaper noted.
"You put a hospital name on something, and the expectations change immediately," American Hospital Association President and CEO Richard Umbdenstock told the WSJ. Article (subscription required)