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I saw this headline and had to laugh- to be clear, it's a joyful and satisfied sort of laugh. The Affordable Care Act amended the Whole Hospital exception to the Stark Law, which had previously been the vehicle through which physicians were allowed to own a portion of a hospital. When amending the whole hospital exception, Congress outlawed future physician ownership in hospitals, leaving previously-owned shares legally in tact. The irony here comes with the fact that the Affordable Care Act also created the various incentive and quality payments that result in payment increases to hospitals if they meet certain quality measures. The irony being, the very law that made physician hospital ownership now illegal is also the one rewarding physicians for their good work in running hospitals.
Now this blog article is off-topic compared to what I usually write about, but I felt especially compelled to bring light to the fact that physician-owned hospitals are doing well under the Affordable Care Act quality incentive provisions. You see, I have spent a fair amount of time in my career, and in life in general, as a proponent of physician-owned hospitals. Time and time again they have come under attack for a multitude of reasons, and time and time again they have proven to provide more efficient and higher quality care. So I am thrilled to see this result and merely had to share my delight in the irony here. Cheers to the physician hospital owners our there!
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