Are you kidding? Hospital based practice, ie. anesthesiology, radiology and pathology primarily, have been dealing with hospital system extortion practices for at least 10 or more years now. This is not new, just new to you. It is clear that the hospitals (and other facilities) are branching out their control arms now to other specialties, as you point out. Fortunately, you have an ability to practice outside of a facility, whereas the vast majority of anesthesiologists, etc., do not. It won’t be long before enough docs filter in from other countries who will be fully willing to become employed by the facilities, and all private practice in the USA will go down. That is the ultimate goal.

Hospitals have been slowly taking control of the physicians on staff for many years using such agrements as ‘PPO’s’ and such. With the threats of reduced reimbursement do to government control, it will only get worse. Hospitals are already showing signs of eating each other.

I have to maintain privileges at at least one hospital due to insurance company mandates. However, I haven’t had an inpatient in at least two years. My patients would show up in the ER, and if they needed admitted the ER doc would call the hospitalists. I would not even be notified. I’ve even had that happen with people I sent to the ER from my office and told the ER they were coming.

It’s ironic that the inscos insist I have hospital privileges while the hospitalists have taken over my inpatients whether I like it or not.

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