can I say 'bullshit' here without being rude? Hospitals ONLY provide services they can profit from. They could have a doc in an office to do the stitching you refer to. And save a crap ton on overhead. By offering a 'luxury pathway' not only do they up their profit, they make everyone else who is trying to save money for the system look bad. Hospitals CHOOSE not to offer cost effective care because there is less profit in it. And then they hide behind Stark regulations - 'we cannot help private practitioners, sorry'.