They are increasingly targeted Opioid Epidemic and Deaths are Not due to Medical Prescriptions.

“Opioid Overdose Crisis Is from Illicit Fentanyl; “targeting legal prescriptions is thus unlikely to reduce overdose deaths, but it may increase them by driving more users to illegal sources,” writes Dr. John Lilly in the Spring 2018 Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.

Sham Peer Review
Physicians who advocate for quality patient care in their hospital as well as those who are non-employee competitors of the hospital where they have privileges are too often the target of illegitimate peer review actions without due process. 

Pain Management

Doctors who treat chronic pain are increasingly targeted, prosecuted, and sent to prison by the Drug Enforcement Agency and Dept. of Justice. This war on doctors has led to widespread undertreatment of patients who require schedule 2 pharmaceuticals to relieve their pain.

Hospitals Taking over Medical Practices 

The number of physician practices owned by hospitals has increased 86% over the past 4 years, which also resulted in a 50% rise in the number of physicians employed by hospitals, according to a recent study.

The report, conducted by Avalere and released by the Physicians Advocacy Institute (PAI), showed that nearly four of 10 physicians are employed by a hospital and one out of four practices is owned by a hospital. . .

Kelly Kenney, JD, PAI’s executive vice president, notes government and private payment policies create incentives for this type of integration. However, Medicare’s “site of service” payment differential—as documented in another study released by Avalere earlier this year—demonstrates how Medicare pays more for the same services delivered in the hospital outpatient setting versus the physician office setting. . .

Read the entire article . . .

Editor’s Note: We have documented that when Hospitals take over a doctor’s practice, they generally charge the same fee that the physician charged for the first year. The second and subsequent years they add on a Hospital Service fee which they justify by providing the space
and the nurse. The physician, of course, provided his rent, nurse, administrative costs for his basic fee. Hospitals in general have double the cost of primary health care by purchasing physician practices.

We have also previously documented that Medicare pays more for a nurse’s home visit from a hospital than for a physician’s home visit. Medicare responded that the Hospital had to provide the nurse, transportation and supplies. When the physician responded that he had all the same costs, so why was his payment lower? Medicare did not respond to this query.

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