Dive Brief:
- According to Becker's' Hospital Review, the American Hospital Association ran an advertorial in the opinion section of the May 5 Wall Street Journal slamming the government as an inadequate business partner.
- In the advertorial, the AHA says "a lethal mix of outdated laws, burdensome and ill-conceived regulations and a Congress that repeatedly raids already inadequate federal funding for hospital care to pay for other programs" is endangering hospitals.
- The advertorial also slams the "well intended but seriously flawed" efforts of programs like the recovery audit contractor system, which the AHA says diverts resources from patient care and "costs hospitals millions of dollars in staff time."
Dive Insight:
The AHA has articulated some issues which at minimum bear further clarification, such as regulatory antitrust barriers to integration between hospitals and unsteady federal funding. Considering that hospitals are already under massive financial strain, you can expect to hear them bring these issues to the forefront repeatedly over the next year or two.