ViewPoints Blog

Large hospital operators HCA, Tenet and Community Health Systems recently issued robust earnings, revenues and large declines in uncompensated care costs, a key measure of expenses. These statements from some of the country’s largest for-profit health systems has some in the industry trumpeting the end to hospital bad debt.

Healthcare leaders have long been living in conflicting worlds governed by contrary incentives. What is operationally good for physicians may not be in the best interest of hospital staff or patients. What is best for a patient may not be supported by family or even allowed by state and federal laws. And what is good for the overall health of an organization may not be in its long-term best financial interest.

As the country's healthcare systems experience further declines in reimbursement and looming downgrades, the spotlight is increasingly turning to the financial losses coming from employed physicians.