Lourdes Health System in South Jersey has embraced the trend. Last year, it put 47 cardiologists from two large private practices on salary.
Main Line Health, which employed six cardiologists in 2008, now has 28. This month, it announced the hiring of the last four, a group in Roxborough. And Temple University Health System announced that eight cardiologists from Chestnut Hill Cardiology Group in Flourtown would join its physician group in March.
The acquisitions apparently are a touchy subject. Many area hospitals did not respond to requests for information about their strategies or the number of employed cardiologists.
At least for the time being, there are financial rewards: Medicare often pays more for procedures and treatments performed in hospital-owned facilities than it does for the same services in offices owned by doctors. The higher bills from shifting doctors to hospital employment in general, not just cardiologists, have already caught the attention of Washington policymakers. An influential advisory agency has recommended that payments be equalized for standard office visits. That alone could save Medicare from $250 million to $750 million a year, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission says.
While the tighter relationships between doctors and hospitals could improve care, some experts say the trend, along with insurers' efforts to control costs through smaller networks, may mean that patients more often have to choose between their doctor and the hospital they prefer.
