HCFA pays hospitals to train fewer workers
HCFA will pay $400 million to 41 New York hospitals to train fewer doctors, the agency announced in late February.
The agency will pay the money out over the next six years to the hospitals in exchange for an agreement to train 2,000 fewer medical residents. This change represents approximately a 20% decline over the current number of residents trained.
The money comes from the Medicare system, which pays teaching hospitals an average of $87,000 for every resident they train. Under the new system, participating hospitals will get some of that money for every residency slot they leave vacant, but the amount will decrease every year for six years. By the seventh year, the subsidy will be gone.
The $400 million paid out will be $300 million less than the cost of maintaining the residency program at current levels, HCFA says.
Following are names and telephone numbers of sources quoted in this issue:
• Ernst & Young, Washington, DC; Frederick B. Abbey, MPA, partner. Telephone: (202) 327-6000.
• Mid-Valley Healthcare, Lebanon, OR; Alan Yordy, MBA, chief executive officer. Telephone: (541) 451-7114.
• New Hampshire Academy of Family Physicians, Concord, NH; Gary A. Sobelson, MD, president. Telephone: (603) 224-7083.
• American Society of Internal Medicine, Washington, DC; Alan Nelson, MD, executive vice president. Telephone: (202) 835-2746.
• Southern Orange County Pediatrics, Lake Forest, CA; Vickie S. Jackson, practice manager. Telephone: (714) 770-6789.
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