Governor Scott panel cannot compare FL hospitals

A panel appointed by Gov. Rick Scott, who once headed the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain, told him on Tuesday that it could not determine whether Florida's public hospitals provide better or worse care than private ones. A study commissioned by the seven-member Commission on Review of Taxpayer Funded Hospital Districts said it was difficult to compare the quality of care at various types of hospitals because they are very diverse and have complex business models. The commission noted a third of Florida's publicly owned hospitals are in rural areas that have too few patients to generate data comparable to urban hospitals.