GAO-04-167, Specialty Hospitals: Geographic Location, Services Provided, and Financial Performance
October 2003 Specialty Hospitals: Geographic Location, Services Provided, and Financial PerformanceSpecialty hospitals, which tend to focus on patients with specific medical conditions or who need surgical procedures, represent a small but growing segment of the health care industry. Such hospitals are not an entirely new phenomenon, as children's and other types of specialty hospitals have existed for decades. However, the recent growth in specialty hospitals has been controversial because it has involved a new genre of hospitals. In contrast to earlier forms of specialty hospitals, this new genre is characterized by hospitals that are often for-profit and frequently . . .
