(HealthDay News) — Hospital-acquired adverse events are increased in association with private equity acquisition of hospitals, according to a study published in the Dec. 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Sneha Kannan, MD, from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and colleagues examined changes in hospital-acquired adverse events and hospitalization outcomes associated with private equity acquisitions of US hospitals. Data from 100% Medicare Part A claims were compared for 662,095 hospitalizations at 51 private equity-acquired hospitals and 4,160,720 hospitalizations at 259 matched control hospitals not acquired by private equity.
The researchers found that hospital-acquired adverse events or conditions occurred in 10,091 hospitalizations. Compared with those treated at control hospitals, Medicare beneficiaries admitted to private equity hospitals experienced a 25.4% increase in hospital-acquired conditions (4.6 additional hospital-acquired conditions per 10,000 hospitalizations). This increase was driven by a 27.3% and a 37.7% increase in falls and central line-associated bloodstream infections, respectively, at private equity hospitals, despite placement of 16.2% fewer central lines. At private equity hospitals, there was a doubling of surgical site infections, from 10.8 to 21.6 per 10,000 hospitalizations, despite an 8.1% reduction in surgical volume; these infections decreased at control hospitals. Compared with control hospitals, there was a slight decrease in mortality at private equity hospitals (3.4%, on average), but no differential change was seen in mortality by 30 days after discharge.
“These findings heighten concerns about the implications of private equity on healthcare delivery,” the authors write.
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