Surgical procedure underway
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In recent discussions, I emphasized the importance of asking your surgeon a crucial question before any procedure. There’s another essential inquiry to consider: the ownership of the hospital where your surgery will take place.
It’s vital to determine if a private equity firm owns the hospital. Here’s the significance of this inquiry.
Over the past decade, private equity firms have been acquiring hospitals and clinical practices, restructuring them to maximize profits. These profits often result from cost-cutting measures, which research indicates are becoming hazardous.
Consider routine procedures like appendectomies or hernia repairs. Typically, these occur without significant issues, and hospitals are quick to address any rare complications. However, hospitals under private equity ownership are struggling to efficiently manage these complications, a situation termed as “failure to rescue.”
A study led by Adrian Diaz from the University of Chicago highlights this issue. Researchers monitored 30-day mortality rates following common surgeries, comparing hospitals acquired by private equity firms with those that were not. The findings were notable: private equity ownership correlated with a significant increase in mortality rates, approximately 3-4%:
Increase in surgical mortality after private equity purchases hospitals
Health Affairs
This rise in mortality may be attributed to staff reductions or decreased resources necessary for post-operative patient monitoring.
In the United States, clinical organizations are increasingly being purchased by for-profit entities, which may not have a primary commitment to patient welfare. The medical community has largely allowed this transition without significant opposition, with few guidelines offered regarding the ethical considerations of selling their practices to profit-driven institutions.
While it would be ideal for patients to avoid private equity-owned hospitals, this is not a simple task. Identifying hospital ownership can be complicated due to convoluted ownership structures, and online searches often yield misleading results. Current AI technology is not yet equipped to navigate the intricate tax forms and equity filings required to determine ownership.
Therefore, it’s advisable to ask your surgeon or a hospital representative if the facility is owned by a private equity firm.
Meanwhile, it is crucial for Congress to scrutinize the impact of private equity ownership on healthcare quality and to ensure that substandard hospitals are compelled to enhance their patient care.
