MedPAC is recommending that Congress update Medicare payment rates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services by the current law amount plus 1% for 2026 and reiterated its recommendation to distribute an additional $4 billion to safety-net hospitals by transitioning to a Medicare safety-net index policy.
New reports out Thursday provide an inside look at the health of Colorado hospitals: what's coming in and what's being put back into the community. And while hospital profits grow, so do expenses. After years of operating in the dark, hospitals across Colorado are now required to disclose more information than ever before.
OrthoCarolina, one of the nation's largest independently owned orthopedic practices, is close to a deal to sell its physical therapy business to PT Solutions Physical Therapy, an Atlanta-based company backed by private equity. The pending sale is the latest example of private equity's growing presence in health care in North Carolina — a trend that has sparked opportunities for growth and concerns about the potential effects on patient care.
Bankrupt hospital chain Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. won court permission to start drawing from its $100 million Chapter 11 financing despite a challenge from landlord Medical Properties Trust Inc. Judge Stacey G.C. Jernigan said late Tuesday she'd authorized Prospect's request after company advisers testified that the hospital operator's cash dwindled to about $3 million before filing for protection on Jan. 11. MPT challenged the financing, saying it improperly puts the new debt ahead of its liens.
The company owes $400 million to vendors across its 16 safety-net hospitals in four states.
Bankrupt Prospect Medical Holdings did not pay vendors to provide basic medical supplies, and its hospital leaders in Rhode Island on Tuesday morning were forced to delay surgeries. Prospect, a national for-profit health care chain, owns and operates Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital in North Providence, and filed bankruptcy late Saturday night. During the corporation’s first hearing in a Dallas courtroom, Prospect Chief Restructuring OfficerPaul Rundell said Tuesday afternoon that he spent his morning working with executives at the company's two Rhode Island hospitals to work out arrangements to pay vendors in advance.
A new study from Harvard Medical School is raising fresh concerns about hospitals controlled by private equity firms. Researchers found patient satisfaction dropped at hospitals that moved under private equity control, compared to hospitals that were not owned by such firms. In surveys reviewed by researchers, patients reported their experience worsened in the years after private equity takeovers. They also said hospital staff were less responsive to their concerns.