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Hospitals to target outpatient facilities with restrictive legislation

Ambulatory Surgery Reimbursement Update, June 27, 2006

Despite a failed attempt to propose a moratorium on new physician-owned surgery centers in Idaho, the state's hospital association plans to bring forward next year similar legislation or legislation requiring builders of new medical facilities to demonstrate need for the facility, according to the Idaho Business Review.

The Idaho Hospital Association had proposed a two-year moratorium on the construction of new or the expansion of existing outpatient facilities late in the most recent legislative session, but the state legislature chose not to address the issue due to other priorities.

Advocates of outpatient facilities defended the need for new and expanding surgery centers. "I think the bottom line is competition is good for any industry," said Janelle Stocker, business manager for the Rocky Mountain Surgery Center in Pocatello and president of the Idaho Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, according to the journal.

The hospital association argues that outpatient facilities often perform only the most profitable procedures or take patients with the best insurance coverage, leaving less profitable cases and higher-risk patients to the hospitals.

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