Despite a “significant decrease” in the clinical risk of heart failure patients admitted to hospitals acquired by private equity firms, clinical outcomes did not improve, according to a study published June 9 in JACC.
“There’s been growing concern that when private-equity firms take over a hospital, they may select for certain types of patients to maximize reimbursement,” study author Rishi Wadhera, MD, said in a June 16 TCTMD report.
Researchers from Boston-based Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center analyzed heart failure patient data from 41 private equity-acquired hospitals and 192 matched control hospitals between 2012 and 2019 for the study.
Here are three notes on the study’s findings:
- There were no changes in 30-day mortality rates or 30-day hospital revisit rates of heart failure patients after private equity acquisition, though the clinical risk levels of admitted patients reportedly decreased after acquisition.
- After acquisition, Black patients with heart failure were 7.1% more likely to be transferred to another care facility.
- There was a “significant increase” in cardiac catheterization rates within private equity-acquired hospitals compared with the control hospitals.
Read the full study here.
