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 KHN’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.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>Vulnerable Rural Hospitals Face Quandaries Over Questionable Billing Schemes</h1>
<div>	<span class="byline">khndianew</span>
		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2018-07-03T12:47:51-04:00">
			July 3, 2018		</time>
		</div>
<p>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.”</p><p>But the approach that company is using <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/07/03/617876814/vulnerable-rural-hospitals-face-tough-decisions-on-questionable-billing-schemes">is drawing attention from lawmakers and Missouri’s auditor</a>. It is similar to a tactic underway at 20 rural hospitals in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Florida and <a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/outsiders-swoop-in-vowing-to-rescue-rural-hospitals-short-on-hope-and-money/">California</a>.</p><p>Read KHN’s previous coverage of this topic: “<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/outsiders-swoop-in-vowing-to-rescue-rural-hospitals-short-on-hope-and-money/">Outsiders Swoop In Vowing To Rescue Rural Hospitals Short On Hope — And Money</a>” by California Healthline senior correspondent Barbara Feder Ostrov.</p><ul><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/vulnerable-rural-hospitals-face-quandaries-over-questionable-billing-schemes/?share=x">				Click to share on X (Opens in new window)				X			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/vulnerable-rural-hospitals-face-quandaries-over-questionable-billing-schemes/?share=facebook">				Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)				Facebook			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/vulnerable-rural-hospitals-face-quandaries-over-questionable-billing-schemes/?share=linkedin">				Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)				LinkedIn			</a></li><li><a href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Vulnerable%20Rural%20Hospitals%20Face%20Quandaries%20Over%20Questionable%20Billing%20Schemes&body=https%3A%2F%2Fkffhealthnews.org%2FODUyNDIz&share=email">				Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)				Email			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/vulnerable-rural-hospitals-face-quandaries-over-questionable-billing-schemes/#print?share=print">				Click to print (Opens in new window)				Print			</a></li><li>				<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/vulnerable-rural-hospitals-face-quandaries-over-questionable-billing-schemes/view/republish/">					Republish This Story				</a>			</li></ul><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p><p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/vulnerable-rural-hospitals-face-quandaries-over-questionable-billing-schemes/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org">KFF Health News</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://kffhealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=852423&amp;ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p>

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