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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 "These (specialty) hospitals might be potentially valuable," Nallamothu said. "They might be innovative in the way they treat patients."
On the other hand, Nallamothu added, critics have raised the possibility that "specialty hospitals are cream-skimming, admitting low-risk patients with just a few days of hospitalization before discharge. The question is how you balance potential over-utilization with potential benefits."
What evidence there is indicates that "specialized hospitals are a mixed bag," said Dr. Peter Cram, assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Iowa. He led a study that found that "specialty hospitals do appear to be admitting a healthier body of patients overall but deliver a very good quality of care."
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It's simply not clear whether the specialty hospitals are doing procedures that might not be necessary, Cram said. "Maybe they are opening in markets where more procedures need to be done," he said. "We are looking at a whole array of analyses."
What Medicare should do is adjust the rate of pay to hospitals based on the complexity of the procedure needed for a given patient, Cram said. "Right now, it appears that hospitals make relatively more money doing (treatment) for less sick patients than for more sick patients," he said.
Specialized for-profit hospitals might well increase in number, and not only for heart care, Cram said. "Medical care is very specialized," he said. "Doctors are specialized, nurses are specialized, why aren't hospitals specialized?"
But there is growing concern that the trend might ignore less well-off Americans, and that may not be true of only for-profit hospitals, Cram said. "Many not-for-profit hospitals might not be interested in the poor and underserved," he said.
More information
To learn more about bypass surgery, visit the American Heart Association.
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