Vulnerable Rural Hospitals Face Quandaries Over Questionable Billing Schemes

Two rural Missouri hospitals recently handed over their operations to a private company that promised to turn them around with a billing practice it calls “a lab outreach program.”

But the approach that company is using is drawing attention from lawmakers and Missouri’s auditor. It is similar to a tactic underway at 20 rural hospitals in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Florida and California.

Read California Healthline’s previous coverage of this topic: “Outsiders Swoop In Vowing To Rescue Rural Hospitals Short On Hope — And Money” by California Healthline senior correspondent Barbara Feder Ostrov.