My local hospital was just acquired by a for-profit chain: why I need to care about this

I recently received in my postal mail a letter from HCA Florida Healthcare informing me that my local hospital, North Florida Regional Medical Center here in Gainesville, the one where, BTW, I received RT for PCa, has been acquired by said HCA Florida Healthcare

From the letter:

"We're writing to share some exciting good news! On March 3, 2022, North Florida Regional Medical Center will officially become HCA Florida North Florida Hospital. Our new name signals that we are a part of HCA Florida Healthcare, the state's leading network of personalized care for you and your family.

(Not a typo, BTW. "HCA Florida North Florida Hospital," mouthful that it is, is now the new name of the place).

The letter goes on:

"HCA Florida Healthcare is a family of more than 450 affiliated sites of care, including hospitals, physician practices, and freestanding emergency rooms that provide a connected and collaborative healthcare experience."

"Thank you for trusting us with your healthcare needs."

So what does this mean for me personally?

Well, the article linked below is already a few years old, but the points it makes on this topic, and its answer to my question, are likely still valid.

From it:

"All across America, hospitals are merging. In 2014 alone, there were 95 mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures among U.S. hospitals, down only slightly from 98 in 2013." (And probably more since then).

In favor of mergers:

"Hospital administrators who create the mergers ... believe that hospital consolidation improves efficiency, access to care, and quality of care, and may lower costs because in theory, the more care a hospital provides, the more efficient and less expensive it should become. For example, when a smaller hospital merges with a larger, better-equipped hospital system, patients at the smaller hospital may acquire better access to specialists and to advanced medical technologies, such as high tech imaging procedures and electronic medical record systems."

and

“The fear that mergers curtail competition, leading to higher prices for medical care, reflects an old way of thinking. Thanks to cataclysmic changes in the delivery of health care, hospital mergers now offer the potential for higher quality and more efficiency.”

But against mergers:

"When individual hospitals merge into larger systems, they gain a larger share of the consumer health market. That puts them in a position to ask health insurance companies to pay more for medical care and procedures. These higher prices are not borne by the insurers, but by consumers in the form of greater premiums. Thus, some economists argue, mergers drive up health care costs and place added financial pressure on consumers."

and

“What is wrong is that too much market power is concentrated in the hands of too few large providers."

The article then goes on to discuss a Massachusetts case where a lawsuit to prevent such takeover of a hospital by a larger conglomerate was settled in court, and the opinion was

"(The) Superior Court Judge ... decided to strike down the settlement (to allow merger) because of her fear that the consolidation plan would reduce competition and drive up prices for consumers."

Summary of the issue in general, at end of the article:

"From the standpoint of consumers, hospital mergers may offer expanded access to health care services, but this may very well come at a cost — higher prices for those services and higher insurance premiums. So if a hospital merger happens in your area, be aware of what might be coming down the road."

And from the "Comments" section following the article, some rather assertive individual opinions on this subject:

" ... the actual patient experience (following merger) is an automated manufacturing line where the doctors give their patients 15 minutes of their time; (and) the junior uncertified technicians ... are graded by how many patients they see per hour."

"Excluded from the discussion was the conversion of the smaller hospitals from not-for-profit status to becoming part of a for-profit network. Focus on profits has prioritized maximizing charges, increasing the volume of services (whether required or not), and squeezing out competitor hospitals."

"I doubt the doctors are happy with this system. But I’m sure it works for CEOs, big insurance and big pharma."

So are these valid concerns?

For those of us with good insurance, we may not notice an immediate increase in our bills following our hospital's merger. But will we eventually be seeing higher deductibles and premiums, and other higher costs, at some future point, because of the merger?

Possibly another reason why health costs continue to rise?

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/everywhere-hospitals-are-merging-but-why-should-you-care-201504017844

Unfortunately, it's the nature of the beast. Small hospitals lose money. Contrary to popular narrative, any uninsured person who walks into the ER must be treated, therefore causing a financial loss for the hospital. Even in these days of Obamacare there are still a number of people who either can't be bothered or lack the wherewithal to protect themselves even with minimal insurance.

Medical professionals have seen this coming for decades. That's why doctors now join large groups rather than open an individual private practice. Then they can share the administrative burden of office staff to deal with insurance, scheduling, and providing a buffer for no-shows. Whether or not the US ever goes full blown socialized medicine, the healthcare system is run by management executives and the medical staff is labor.

This was not a merger or acquisition - just a name change to standardize all the FL HCA-owned hospitals under a common name. The same thing just happened to the HCA-owned hospitals here on the Treasure Coast. HCA has owned these hospitals for years and they've always been for-profit.

Such is the trend. And it's all big business spin-doctoring under a mantra of the best welfare of patients, blah, blah, blah. Vintage Madison Avenue hyperbole. Translation = pure BS.

Here in southern New Jersey, the three biggies are RWJ (Robert Wood Johnson) Barnabas, Hackensack Meridian and Atlanticare. From hospitals to Urgent Cares.

Doctor friends of mine tell me that these groups actively recruit doctors who, nowadays, have seen the costs of their private practices skyrocket. Many, at least in my area, are making the switch.

And so it goes...

NJ Fred

Post Edited (NJFred) : 3/8/2022 10:52:36 AM (GMT-7)

As time goes by, since you live in the community, 81GyGuy, it will be interesting to hear how the "word on the street" goes -- in terms of patient satisfaction, patient billing & costs, & medical staff satisfaction.

Like every school or church you visit, each hospital & clinic has its own "vibe" and ambiance.

I have been served by three different hospitals since my diagnosis -- each one has played its part in my diagnosis and treatment --- and each one had a different ambiance.

My favorite hospital is my main treatment hospital --- a smaller hospital --- caring medical staff --- very individualized care --- outstanding doctors -- and the staff there really looks after me.

Here's hoping your hospital in Gainesville continues to offer high quality medical care going forward, 81GyGuy!

A few thoughts to share ~
CYCLONE - # Iowa State University

81:

Great thread, and you presented both sides well. There is no definitive answer. Our local hospital was very highly rated, considered the #1 hospital in mid-Michigan. It then "joined" -- I'm sure "for our benefit" -- the finest hospital in the State (and one of the best in the country), the U. of Mich hospital/medical center. It is 125 miles away. Suddenly some of UMich docs. were seeing patients in my city 2 days a week. When I had to go to the ER they were worried about some rare disease. Within 15 minutes they had me telecommunicating with an expert in the field at Umich. Fortunately, he cleared me on that score, thereby avoiding all sorts of tests/txs.

In short, it was a great benefit to me. Then I got my bills. Now, fortunately, I have excellent insurance and Umich is in-network, so my costs were minimal. But indeed I could see a fairly large increase in store for many patients. In short, both sides of the issue. From my perspective, it is a positive development. In fact, prior to the merger (or takeover) I did consult with Umich on my PC and that's where I went for my Ga68-PSMA scans and subsequent SBRT tx.

So, I guess it depends on the "quality" of the takeover. If there is nothing added in terms of quality doctors/services, then it is not a good situation because we are probably going to have a cost increase.

Mel

Most don't know that Mayo Clinic operates many clinics and hospitals outside of Rochester MN as well (Mayo Clinic Health System) which makes the MSP news quite often when they change anything at the local level. Like many businesses, they have to eventually close a clinic/hospital or reduce services at a location then the complaints rise up. Same thing happens with the other larger medical systems in the state.

One thing that is nice is that many of the large systems around here use MyChart medical records system and it is now easy to link records between systems so you can actually monitor your multiple healthcare system records use from your login. A glimpse into the future I suspect.