Analyzing The Geographic Market In Hospital Mergers: Travel Patterns Take A Backseat To Payer Response

By Andrea Levine & Andy Hasty –

This article looks at recent hospital merger cases which highlight not only the importance of a properly defined geographic market, but also courts’ definitive shift away from relying on patient travel patterns in making this determination. A close look at the ensuing hospital merger challenges shows that patient flow data—and even some semblance of the Elzinga-Hogarty test—continued to inform geographic market analysis in hospital mergers until recently. But now, two appeals courts have issued opinions clearly rejecting the Elzinga-Hogarty framework. How should practitioners react?

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