Corporate Chains Push Hospital Rates Higher
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2» - M ANCUKSTKR H KKAU ), Thursduy, Ailfi. 11. 19B:t Corporate chains push hospital rates higher Bv Gino Del Guerico of the same size and in the same hospitals — all non-teaching insti Private corporations buying hos care proprietary hospitals are now were 11 percent higher. United Press International geographic areas, the investor- tutions of approximately the same pitals to form chains “ represent controlled by the five largest The editorial said “ the most Cable firm’s proposed Coventry ready to hire Home Interiors: owned chain hospitals have evi moderate size. the most dramatic change in the investor-owned chains, which are interesting difference in ex hospital industry in recent years," still very actively expanding their penses" was found in the costs of BOSTON — Although corporate- dently charged patients more per The sfUdy-was'cenducted by the said Robert V. Pattison, an author holdings." corporate headquarters allocated anti-theft measure aired owned hospitals have always admission and their operating Western Center of Health school social workers experts’ tips A 1978 study of Medicare data in to the individual hospitals. claimed their management exper costs have been at least as high," Planning. of the report. California, Florida and Texas “ Collectivdly these costs were tise reduces the cost of medical said an editorial published in the Nearly 1,100 hospitals in the page 3 "Judged not as businesses but as found charges for patient care percent higher in the chain hospi ... page 9 ... a special section New England Journal of Medicine. United States, or about 15 percent care, a report said today profit hospitals, which ai*e supposed to of all the general acute-care were 17 percent higher and actual tals than in the not-for-profit making hospitals cost as much as Corporate-owned hospitals in serve the public interest, (for- facilities in the country, are owned collections were 12 percent higher hospitals, and this increased ex 24 percent more than non-profit California charged 24 percent profit hospitals) have been less by corporations. in investor-owned hospitals. A 1980 pense outweighed the small sav hospitals. more per admission, according to cost-effective than their not-for- The editorial said the industry study of Florida hospitals found ings achieved in expenses for "Compared with nonteaehing a study that compared 53 investor- profit counterparts,” said the "is rapidly consolidating: About that charges for patient care were 'general' (room and board) servi not-for-profit voluntary hospitals owned hospitals with 280 other journal editorial. two-thirds of all general acute- 15 percent higher and collections ces,” the editorial said. Chest X-rays NItro patch Showers tonight; Manchester, Conn. clearing iate Saturday Friday, Aug. 12, 1983 many times explosions — See page 2 Single copy; 25<t unnecessary startle doctor By Gino Del Guercio United Press International Chad mulls By Gino Del Guerico Wholesale United Press International BOSTON — Many of the millions of chest X-rays performed on children suspected of having asthma in BOSTON — A Navy doctor trying to restart a the United States each year are unnecessary, a study army ability patient’s heart with a jolt of electricity had “ the living said today. daylights” scared out of him when a medical patch on prices up Dr. Jeffrey C. Gershel, a member of the Pediatrics the patient’s chest exploded, the doctor reported Department at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx, N.Y., today. said most simple cases of asthma can be diagnosed The explosion of the nitroglycerin patch produced a without X-rays. for defense loud noise, a flash and a puff of yellow smoke, but did "Our data suggests that, for the vast majority of not harm the patient, Capt. John C. Babka said in a only 0.1% children with a first episode of wheezing, routine chest letter to the New England Journal of Medicine. Editor’s note: Portions of this dispatch were subject radiography does not add information that apprecia to censorship by Chadian officials. bly alters the care of the patient,” he wrote in an “ It scares the living daylights out of everyone," he article published in the New England Journal of said. i, t By Charles Mitchell Medicine. The phenomena has only been reported once or \ By Denis G. Gulino However, he cautioned his study was only the first twice l^fore in obscure drug company news letters, United Press International \ United Press International 2 and more must be done before the practice of but the patches are becoming increasingly popular, routinely giving X-rays to children is changed. His which could lead to many more similar incidents, he NDJAMENA, Chad .— Chad’s cabinet, its army WASHINGTON — Wholesale prices edged up only observations also only apply to cases of wheezing that said. routed in the north, met in emergency session today to 0.1 percent in July, held in check by less expensive can be stopped with drugs and are not accompanied The electric shock technique is often used on people assess the army’s ability to stop a feared advance on food and only slightly more costly gasoline, the Labor by other complications, such as fever or diarrhea. He who are only partially sedated, “ so they could hear the capital by a Libyan-backed rebel army massed in Department said today. Faya Largeau. also limited his suggestion to children more than the explosion themselves, which could be an The siight increase kept the 1983 inflation rate for one-year-old. emotionally devastating experience for the patient,” The strategic oasis town of Faya-Largeau, 500 miles business heading Asthma is a lung disease characterized by attacks he said. north of the capital of Ndjamena, fell to Libyan- down by 0.7 per of wheezing, coughing and a sense of constrietion that At first, Babka thought the explosion was caused by backed rebels Wednesday in a seven-hour battie — a cent when fig can last from a few minutes to several days. In the .V the nitroglycerin, which in other forms is highly serious setback to the pro-Western government of ured yearly, a PRODUCER PRICE explosive. President Hissene Habre. remarkable dec United States, 2.2 million children under the age of 17 m INDEX have asthma, the leading cause of missed school days But after examining a patch that exploded, he —— Western diplo lining trend that For Finished Goods mats said they and hospitalization. determined it was probably caused by “ an electrical has survived for (unadjusteo) arc between the defibrillator (an electric shock did not know how seven months. “ I'd have no problem with reducing the number of Related stories, .’■v" Index 1967sl00 28S 7 X-rays given to children," said Dr. Albert L. Sheffer, UPI photo device) paddle and the aluminum covering of the many of the 2,000 But one Labor an assistant clinical professor at Harvard Medical Fighting blood bank policy Transderm patch.” photos on page 10 army troops Department School and an expert on allergies. The patches administer nitroglycerin, which managed to sur economist, not 284 - "W e've already significantly reduced the exposure lessens chest pain associated with heart ailments. The . vive a tank and ing the figures to radiation. But it's important to make sure there are Richard Studer, age 31 of St. Cloud, Fla. people from giving blood to a family drug is slowly absorbed into the patient’s bloodstream air assault on the did not reflect no other factors that might indicate something rocks his son Richard, age 11 months, member or friend. Studer tried to give through the skin over several hours. town that peaked with napalm and phosphorous any affects on 2 0 2 - besides asthma." he said. who is in the hospital because of a virus Babka said the solution is simple: When trying to bombs being dropped by 50 Libyan fighter-bombers. food prices of the blood to his son twice this week because The government troops had been fighting desper Many medical textbooks recommend chest X-rays that has left him unable to digest food he feared a transfusion from an revive a patient with such a patch using electric summer be performed on all children entering the hospital shock, remove the patch or keep the paddles used to ately for 11 days and finally were cut off from supply drought, said the 280- I with severe wheezing, said Gershel. The X-rays cost and absorb nutrients into his blood unknown donor could give the child administer the shock from touching it. routes to Faya-Largeau, which commands access to report “ may be about $35 and expose children to radiation which stream. Studer is fighting a national AIDS, a deadly disease most often Babka discovered the phenomena when a woman the two roads ieading to Ndjamena. the calm before “ There’s nothing to stop a Libyan advance now” if should be avoided if possible, he said. blood-banking policy that prevents found in homosexual men. collapsed in the cardiac care unit at the Naval the storm." 2 7 8 H In other cases the X-rays are more than worth the Regional Medical Center in Charleston, S.C. Col. Moammar Khadafy should decide to continue, a Food prices radiation exposure and expense, he said. Western diplomat said. were down 0.6 Armed soldiers clad in green fatigues sealed off Although the number of X-rays performed on i percent, the third 2 7 6 H children each year is not readily available, Gershel Discovery at UConn roads into Ndjamena as the Cabinet met at the Council consecutive reported 5 to 10 percent of all children will at some of Ministers building to discuss the defeat a Faya month of decline Largeau.