“Senator Baucus and I have worked for years now to address the concerns that come with physician owned hospitals, including inherent conflicts of interest for physician owners and, more importantly, patient safety,” said Grassley in a statement. “I remain concerned about the ability of these facilities to address emergency situations.”
This month, Consumer Reports released the results of its survey of physician-owned medical groups, in which physician-owned hospitals were ranked as the #1 hospital in 19 states by consumers even though at least 30 states don’t even have physician-owned hospitals.
That’s not surprising to Steve House, a Texas-based investor in several physicians-owned hospital groups who is also the president of US Lithotripsy, LP, which is involved in the non-invasive treatment of kidney stones.
“We provide a better product at a cheaper price. If you want to put health care back in the hands of patients, this is the way to do it,” he said. “It’s not all about the money. All these things about greedy doctors ruining the lives of the patients – it’s just not true.”