Why Have Physicians Developed Their Own Specialty Hospitals?

Discussion 3
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Discussion 3
More often than not physicians acquire interests in specialty hospitals owing to a variety of reasons. Such hospitals are generally more efficient as compared with general hospitals which make them attractive in terms of professional development. In addition to this, affiliated institutions grant practicing physicians increased control over their operations, opportunity to increase their income and flexibility (Guterman, 2016). Regardless of such benefits, specialized hospitals raise numerous ethical and legal issues especially in relation to self-referrals made without full disclosure. More importantly, existing laws and standards including but not limited to Stark Laws prohibits physicians from making self-referrals to organizations where they have part or full ownership.
The profit motive is one of the main reasons why physicians establish or prefer working in specialty hospitals. The fixed-per-payment approach applied by specialty hospitals creates...