Dr. Marcus Neubauer Pens Op-Ed on Hospital Anti-Competitive Behavior

Dr. Marcus Neubauer, Chief Medical Officer of The US Oncology Network, authored an op-ed published in MedPage Today, on the increasingly aggressive tactics used by hospitals to enhance their market domination.

In the op-ed, Dr. Neubauer argues that “as hospitals and health systems continue to target smaller, community-based physician practices with anti-competitive tactics, patients are the ones caught in the middle.”

Dr. Neubauer further explains that community practices across the nation are witnessing hospitals in their local markets engage in patient steering, referral restraints and other strong-arm negotiating tactics that increase costs and reduce access to care. The piece shares examples from Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Connecticut.

As Dr. Neubauer notes, “In yet another instance, Alliance Cancer Specialists, a community-based oncology practice in Pennsylvania, recently alleged that it experienced similar anti-competitive behavior firsthand. According to the complaint, after the plaintiff rebuffed an acquisition attempt by a large health system, the system has allegedly forced its physicians to refer only to its own oncologists rather than referring them to other, sometimes preferred, oncologists in community practices.”

The op-ed closes with a call to action for federal and state policymakers to implement policies that rein in hospitals and healthcare systems’ use of these anti-competitive tactics to ensure access to high-quality affordable and local healthcare.

To read Dr. Marcus Neubauer’s op-ed in the MedpPage Today, CLICK HERE.