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Consolidated health systems deliver a large proportion of the medical care in the United States. A new study suggests that consolidated health systems provide slightly better care than private practices, but they are more costly for their patients.
A consolidated health system is defined as a group of entities with at least one general acute care hospital, 10 primary care physicians, and 50 total physicians located within a single hospital referral region. These health systems have expanded in size and market share in recent years due to mergers and acquisitions of practices and hospitals.
Hospital services cost 31% more in consolidated health systems than with private care providers. The prices in larger systems are 12%-26% higher than in private practices. It was also noted that the quality of care was only slightly better than private practices. Researchers analyzed performance based on preventative care measures, patient experience, chronic disease management, spending, low-value care, readmissions, and mortality.
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