The Nashville-based Frist family, which helped start the for-profit hospital chain HCA Inc., are launching a company to take the U.S. system of managing and operating hospitals to China. China Healthcare Corp. said it has an initial agreement with a city southeast of Shanghai to build and operate a hospital that would replace an existing location. The startup would own a 70% stake in the joint venture, while the government of Ningbo would own the remaining 30%. The agreement requires approval from the Chinese ministries of health and commerce, a process that takes up to nine months on average.
Insurers are increasingly rejecting imaging procedures recommended by U.S. doctors as the companies work to trim $30 billion a year they say is wasted on the tests. With U.S. health costs projected to grow to 25% of the economy in 2025 from 16% now, insurers are turning to so-called radiology benefit managers who can reject scans determined to be unneeded, said representatives from a Washington-based consultant to hospitals. In addition to requiring advance approval, screeners are negotiating discounted fees for scans, requiring imaging facilities to win accreditation, and guiding consumers to cheaper test centers.
Democrats and Republicans are entering a political debate over a $700 million health plan offered by Jay Nixon, a Democrat running for governor of Missouri. Nixon wants to reinstate Medicaid for about 100,000 low-income adults, restore services such as dental care, and expand children's coverage. He says the state can absorb its share of the cost, while the federal government would pay the rest. Republican budget leaders are calling Nixon's plan an expansion of welfare, and estimate it would cost the state as much as $400 million a year.
As capital projects are common among healthcare organizations and the economy slows, project managers looking to keep costs down can look to practices that have already been adopted in Asia by some of that region's best capital project managers.
A group of Americans traveled to South Korea recently to take advantage of less expensive high-quality, state-of-the-art healthcare. The two-week trip was part of a medical program developed by the Korea Tourism Organization of Los Angeles and Los Angeles travel agency Aju Tours.
The system of operating and managing hospitals used in the U.S. will soon make its way to China, thanks to Nashville's Frist family. An initial agreement for the joint venture will see China Healthcare Corp. based in Nashville, while a new hospital will be constructed in, Ningbo, a city near Shanghai.