Hospitals anticipate pitfalls of physician payment reform

How will physician payment reform affect hospitals? The speculation on the law's effects is just beginning in earnest. But a number of health care experts predict that the physician payment reform law does not bode well for hospitals. In fact, some hospitals are already receiving requests from physicians to renegotiate contracts to make up for expected shortfalls in income, and others are examining revenue streams to determine the impact of the switch from high-tech and surgical procedures to more primary care-oriented procedures.