Abstract
This paper examines hospital competition and restrictions on physician-owned hospital; it proceeds as follows. Part I provides an overview of the seemingly inexorable trends towards further consolidation among healthcare providers and the related competition concerns this consolidation raises. Part II discusses the factors which position POHs well as potential market entrants. Part III describes how the accrual of market power by incumbent hospitals and health systems accentuates the incentives and importance of physicians to identify opportunities for market entry and innovation. Part IV describes the growth of POHs and the subsequent ban on further growth and expansion. Part V then discusses the effects of the POH ban on competition in healthcare markets, potential benefits of relaxing the ban, and more narrowly tailored policy options for addressing concerns associated with physician ownership short of an outright ban. Lastly, Part VI concludes the paper with our recommendation that Congress consider removing the ban on POHs or at least relaxing it.
This resource is found in our Actionable Strategies for Government: Aligning Values & Improving Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (Aligning Values).
