http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-02-06-00310.pdf page 24 shows the number of physician owned specialty hospitals by state as of the time of the report. The categories for such hospitals are cardiac, orthopoedic and surgical. Texas has 33 such hospitals, many states have none and all others have between one and five.
The issues revolving around physician owned hospitals is the idea of self-referral, physicians referring patients to their hospitals with a stake in the ongoing testing and treatments of patients that directly profit the referring physicians...and the notion of kickbacks and whether such referrals amount to kickbacks.
The Medicare system is our best source of national information on trends in health insurance because of its extensive documentation of individuals covered by this national program. While Medicare argues against physician owned hospitals (in a percentage amount of more than 40% ownership as its threshhold), physicians naturally argue for physician owned hospitals.
For consumers, the lack of clear Identification of such hospitals by name, and clear charts comparing the rates charged for treatment, comparison of insurance coverage of such treatments as compared to treatment in a community hospital, number of tests prescribed by physicians on average for patients with certain diagnoses, and outcome numbers is more of the same for consumers. At a very basic level, every physician should have to INFORM patients before treatment of their hospital ownership or the potential for over-referral to hospitals for testing and treatment cannot be considered by consumers.
Until consumers can learn about the finances of the medical services industry, we cannot be "empowered" and finding out after we are sick is not helpful. The lack of ready information on the financing of our providers amounts to a deception that can impact the health and outcome for consumers. Physician owned hospitals are defended by doctors because of the benefits they offer consumers, then why is the information from physicians as to their financial stake in a hospital so difficult to obtain?
