Systems slow to adjust as patient care shifts

Regarding the article “Troubled hospital giant CHS looking to sell its business” (ModernHealthcare.com, Sept. 16), as care has shifted from hospital inpatient to hospital outpatient and now to nonhospital outpatient/postacute care, the resulting decline in capacity utilization has made brick and mortar hospitals a rapidly deteriorating asset. And as bundled payments grow as a percentage of revenue, rewarding the most efficient providers, the community hospital sector will continue to decline, except as outpatient affiliates (feeders) of local health systems. Unfortunately, CHS, like HCA and other for-profit hospital operators, has been late to make the transition. It’s a fading sector.

Michael Cadger Founder and CEO Monocle Health Data Atlanta