HMA, TENET FIRMS IN PAIN CLINIC DISPUTES

Subsidiaries of two large hospital companies are wrangling with the Florida Department of Health about whether they meet legal requirements to operate pain-management clinics. Collier HMA Physician Management, a subsidiary of Health Management Associates, is scheduled to go before an administrative law judge next week to fight a department decision to revoke its "registration" as a pain clinic. The company, however, filed a motion Friday seeking to put the case on hold while a similar dispute involving Tenet Florida Physician Services is resolved. The disputes stem from legislative attempts to crack down on ownership of shady pain-management clinics, including a requirement that clinics be physician-owned. Collier HMA and Tenet Florida Physician Services --- a subsidiary of Tenet Healthcare Corp. --- contend they meet the terms of an exemption that was designed for large, publicly traded companies. Collier HMA, for example, operates a pain-management clinic in Collier County and is owned through two subsidiaries of the parent company. Collier HMA and Tenet Florida Physician Services filed challenges in the Division of Administrative Hearings in May.