Comments on: Speaking of…

By: dx

dx — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:32:58 +0000

Shadowfax – The comparison to the national average would be fine, if there was reason to think that Massachusetts’s market conditions were very similar to other states’. My understanding, though, is that those conditions can vary significantly from state to state, and my sense is that Mass. is one of the tougher markets. (I looked for numbers, but couldn’t find anything specific or recent enough – so I could be way off.) You’re right – this was an insurance industry hit on Partners – but I don’t see the harm to anyone outside Mass.

By: shadowfax

shadowfax — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:39:20 +0000

Thanks for the link.

Yes, partners is more profitable than the average MA hospital — that is an established fact. However, if you see that I cited the Fitch data, which showed that for 2006 (the most recent year I could find) Partner’s operating margin was 2.2%, compared to 2.8% for the industry nation-wide. So I feel comfortable concluding that Partners is not more profitable than the average US hospital. I don’t know what a valid “peer group” would be to compare it to, though.

By: dx

dx — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:34:39 +0000

Sure, patients could save money by making better-informed choices, which is why I think the article helps more than it hurts. But patients hardly ever have access to cost information a priori, much less data on efficacy. I went through this a while planning for surgery a couple years ago – it was nearly impossible.

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:23:17 +0000

It is the patients’ fault that they choose to consume goods which are not worth the dollar value assigned to them. If the patients did not demand the goods for the price, the “elite” hospitals would not be able to charge the prices they do without collapsing.

Bragging rights go a long way when you can say “my doctor is over at B&W Hospital”.