CMM: Docs unable to refer Mc/MA patients to Specialty hospitals they own

From the June 13, 2003 print edition of the Wichita Business Journal

Jerry Siebenmark

Medicare rule proposal could affect specialty hospital reimbursement

Medicare and Medicaid will propose a new rule this year that experts say could affect reimbursement for specialty hospitals -- including those in Wichita -- that have physician owners.

Experts say a rule proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would ban the referral of patients covered by the government health insurance programs to specialty hospitals in which referring physicians have a financial interest.

That would put pressure on some local specialty hospitals that get as much as three-quarters of their business from patients covered by Medicare.

Full story:

http://www.bizjournals.com/industries/health_care/hospitals/2003/06/16/wichita_story3.html