Mr. Fenninger said specialty hospitals were in agreement with this provision.
As expected, CMS found that specialty hospitals provide less charity care than acute care hospitals do—an average 4% for cardiac hospitals, 1% for orthopedic hospitals, and 0.2% for surgical hospitals in fiscal 2004 and 2005, vs. 8% for general facilities.
Again, Mr. Fenninger said this was not surprising, claiming that most specialty hospitals were in geographic areas that did not serve many charity care cases.
CMS said there might be extenuating circumstances, and noted that “the profile of services offered by specialty hospitals may contribute to the differences in patient mix.” The agency said Congress should consider whether further reforms are needed to promote delivery of charity care.
Dr. McClellan said the report should not be seen as a signal that the federal government would stop monitoring physician-owned facilities. “When it comes to enforcing the requirements of the law when it comes to specialty hospitals, we mean it and we're going to do it,” he said.
