Dive Brief:
- Trevor Fetter, CEO of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp., told CNBC's morning news program Squawk Box that emergency department visits haven't slowed down since the implementation of the ACA.
- Tenet's employed physicians, however, are beginning to see more scheduled visits, as their exchange policies offer one free checkup a year.
- According to Fetter, emergency department visits are actually up, "but emergency room visits have been up every quarter for a very long time," Fetter told Squawk Box.
Dive Insight:
According to Fetter, this is "exactly what happened in Massachusetts." Becker's Hospital Review, which reported on Fetter's comments, suggests that he may be referring to a recent study, published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, which found that after Massachusetts enacted health reform in 2006, ED use steadily increased for years.