68.2% of Physician Owned Hospital Admissions Come from Referrals

The BMJ recently published a comparative analysis on physician owned hospitals. Here are some key findings from the report:

·         More than 250 hospitals in the United States are partly or completely owned by physicians (POH).

·         6.3% of Medicare admissions in each region are at POHs.

·         POHs are more likely than non-POH's to have less than 100 beds.

·         Patients admitted to POHs were 1 year younger than those admitted to non-POHs (77.4 vs 78.4).

·         POHs had more admissions through physician or clinic referral (68.2%) than non-POHs (62.3%).

·         1.8% of POH patients are discharged to hospice care, versus 2.8% of patients at non-POHs.

Source: BMJ, September 2, 2015