Health Care: Most Community and Migrant Health Center Physicians Have Hospital Privileges.
Abstract
Most C/MHC physicians (82 percent) have admitting privileges at area hospitals. According to C/MHC officials, those that do not, often have not applied for privileges because (1) physicians prefer not to have an inpatient practice, (2) they do not meet a hospital's professional criteria, and/or (3) the distance from the center's physician's residence/practice to the hospital where services are to be provided is often too far to allow for effective physician coverage of their patients. Furthermore, 29 C/MHCs have no physicians with privileges. But, the lack of physician admitting privileges at a local hospital does not prevent C/MHC patients from gaining access to inpatient care. Alternative means, such as referral to non-C/MHC physicians with hospital privileges and to publicly funded hospitals, are used by C/MHCs to help ensure that their patients have access to hospital services. Few C/MHC physicians have been denied hospital admitting privileges because they failed to meet hospitals' criteria. However, 42 C/MHCs indicated that they employ one or more physicians who have not applied for privileges because they do not believe that they meet professional or other hospital criteria.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA299554
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office