Costs and profits: News from the hospital industry

The Boston Globe reports on how Children's Hospital Boston is zeroing in on its costs. Meanwhile, the LA Times reports on another example of regional variation in the cost of care.

Los Angeles Times: Hospital Stays Cost More In Northern California Than Southern California
Northern and Southern California have long argued over which one has the best sports teams, nicer climate and most stunning scenery. When it comes to health care, however, there's little debate: It costs a lot less to be hospitalized in the Southland (Helfand, 3/6).

The Boston Globe: Children's Zeroes In On Its Costs
Tagged by the attorney general and insurers as one of the state's most expensive hospitals, Children's Hospital Boston is moving aggressively to cut health care costs while seeking to sustain its elite reputation for pediatric care. Children's has reduced its fees to private insurers and to Medicaid-managed care programs by $90 million over the last year and a half, hospital executives said, by focusing on charges for lab tests, doctors' appointments, imaging, surgery, and hospital admissions. Children's also recently slashed imaging and outpatient surgery prices by 20 percent at the hospital's three suburban sites (Kowalczyk and Weisman, 3/6).

The Wall Street Journal: Looking Past HCA's Flaws
Hospital operator HCA Holdings Inc. is big, bloated with debt and facing the unknowns of the U.S. health care overhaul. Its private owners stand to make a large gain on their original investment after paying themselves special dividends and selling 30 percent of the total shares in the offering. The only thing getting smaller these days at HCA seems to be the growth in its revenue and profits (Cowan, 3/7).