Spending per Medicare Beneficiary Is Higher in Hospital-Owned Small- and Medium-Sized Physician Practices.

TitleSpending per Medicare Beneficiary Is Higher in Hospital-Owned Small- and Medium-Sized Physician Practices.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2017
AuthorsPesko MF, Ryan AM, Shortell SM, Copeland KR, Ramsay PP, Sun X, Mendelsohn JL, Rittenhouse DR, Casalino LP
JournalHealth Serv Res
Date Published2017 Sep 21
ISSN1475-6773
Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship of physician versus hospital ownership of small- and medium-sized practices with spending and utilization of care.

DATA SOURCE/STUDY SETTING/DATA COLLECTION: Survey data for 1,045 primary care-based practices of 1-19 physicians linked to Medicare claims data for 2008 for 282,372 beneficiaries attributed to the 3,010 physicians in these practices.

STUDY DESIGN: We used generalized linear models to estimate the associations between practice characteristics and outcomes (emergency department visits, index admissions, readmissions, and spending).

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Beneficiaries linked to hospital-owned practices had 7.3 percent more emergency department visits and 6.4 percent higher total spending compared to beneficiaries linked to physician-owned practices.

CONCLUSIONS: Physician practices are increasingly being purchased by hospitals. This may result in higher total spending on care.

DOI10.1111/1475-6773.12765
Alternate JournalHealth Serv Res
PubMed ID28940537
PubMed Central IDPMC6051973
Category: 
Faculty Publication