The ownership of a hospital should not impact a patient’s potential outcomes after admittance. However, a study of 51 hospitals’ data shows private equity investment has corresponded with a significant increase in adverse events during treatment at those facilities for Medicare patients.

According to research by Dr. Zirui Song from Harvard and Joseph Dov Bruch from the University of Chicago, hospitals owned by private equity firms between 2009 and 2019 experienced the following outcomes:

• a 25% increase in surgical infections and bed sores;
• 38% more central line infections;
• and a 27% increase in patient falls.

Dr. Song and Dr. Bruch looked at data involving Medicare patients as there are key preventable adverse events that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services tracks. An overabundance of these outcomes could result in the hospital paying fines to the government. 

Staffing cuts and other changes that impacted hospital quality have led to increases in these adverse events at the same time as industry-wide declines in preventable cases, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, more commonly known as JAMA.

Our medical malpractice team is very familiar with the relationship between quality of care and patient outcomes. We have represented hundreds of clients in medical malpractice and negligence cases, with hundreds of millions of dollars in combined results. For example, at the end of 2023, Founding Partner Stephan D. Blandin and his team won a $40 million verdict against a local hospital for a birth injury that created life-long complications for our client.

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The medical malpractice attorneys at Romanucci & Blandin have proven success in these types of cases. Please contact our office at 312-458-1000 or click here for a free case evaluation. There is never a fee until you are compensated for your injuries at the end of the case.

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