Appeals court sides with New Mexico health system in antitrust case

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit yesterday affirmed a district court decision rejecting an Albuquerque physician practice’s claims that Presbyterian Healthcare Services engaged in exclusionary or anticompetitive conduct under the Sherman Act. The AHA in September filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of that decision. 

“Vertically integrated health care delivery systems offer the promise of managing complex care for patients over large populations in a cost efficient manner,” AHA wrote. “The district court recognized this when it granted summary judgment for defendants and sent the parties out to compete in the market to determine what model of patient care best suits the needs of the population in New Mexico.”