More than half of the eligible physician-owned hospitals received either 4- or 5-star ratings under CMS' Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating program.
"We are very pleased that such a large number of our POHs received high marks from the new rating system," said Blake Curd, MD, president of Physician Hospitals of America. "There were only 102 hospitals in the nation that received 5-star ratings, and of that total 37 were POHs. That is a high number considering that POHs comprise only approximately 5 percent of participating hospitals."
Results of the Quality Star Rating program show that 83 of the 159 eligible POHs received the highest marks in the new program. By comparison, only 27 percent of non-POHs received 4- or 5-star ratings, according to PHA.
Dr. Curd noted that despite their track record for providing high-quality, low-cost care, under the Affordable Care Act, existing POHs are restricted from expansion and construction of any new POH facilities that treat Medicare and Medicaid patients. The ban is intended to prevent private hospitals from "cherry picking" the most profitably patients.
"Yet they are still banned by the government from expanding to meet the demand within their communities. Patients want high quality care. They want to be able to choose where they receive care. Patients are being turned away from these high-performing hospitals that are at capacity, forcing patients into lower quality facilities where they suffer from infections and even worse outcomes," said Dr. Curd.
For more information on the Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating program, click here.
For a full list of the 5-star hospitals, click here.