Exploring Legal Models to Preserve Catholicity.

As the structures of U.S. health systems evolve, a number of Catholic systems have found it necessary to transfer ownership of their hospitals to other-than-Catholic entities. In such cases, the selling sponsors have a key decision to make: Can the hospital maintain its Catholic identity after the sale?

Back in business. Heartland Spine & Specialty Hospital showed that a small, physician-owned hospital can beat the big guys in court.

It's too soon to tell if a precedent has been set, officials say, but the Heartland Spine settlement could serve as a "guidepost" for other physician-owned hospitals feeling squeezed out of their markets. But Jeff Micklos, left, the Federation of American Hospitals' general counsel, said: "I don't think this settlement or any settlement changes the underlying influence of conflict of interest of physician-owners who self-refer.