The Commission to Study Maine’s Hospitals on Wednesday released its long-awaited report, containing numerous recommendations aimed at keeping hospital costs down while improving the quality of the care they provide. Chairman William Haggett says the report reflects the diverse views of the commission members, but a spokeswoman for the Maine Hospital Association says the process has been driven by the chairman’s priorities.

The recommendations unveiled Wednesday are considerably less stringent than those in earlier versions, especially an unofficial chairman’s draft that circulated over the summer. In that document, Haggett, former CEO of Bath Iron Works, envisioned a compulsory, three-region hospital network and recommended closing some specific community hospitals and ordering others to merge in order to cut costs and avoid duplication of services.

At the time the preliminary draft was leaked out of the commission and read broadly by alarmed hospital administrators, Haggett said he never intended for it to be scrutinized beyond the commission meeting room. It was meant as a model to help the group identify and discuss the issues, and did not represent a consensus of the members, he said.

“The commission as a whole wasn’t as ready to be as aggressive or as specific as I was,” Haggett said on Wednesday. As a result, he said, the official report has been “softened” and “modified” to garner the support of the majority. “I hope it will still be effective,” he said.

In place of the mandatory three-region system, the new report recommends a voluntary “consortium for hospital collaboration,” envisioned as an organizing force to help participating facilities standardize their clinical practices, share administrative activities and take advantage of bulk purchasing.

Gone also is the recommendation to close hospitals in communities that have two or more, as well as the prospect of an imposed merger between facilities in northern Maine. The report backs off from recommending regulation of insurance companies to make sure they pass the benefit of anticipated lower payments to hospitals on to their customers, instead of pocketing additional profits. However, the report does recommend that the state appoint a separate committee to consider the role insurers play in keeping consumer costs down.

Other key recommendations:

. Enact legislation that encourages cooperation between hospitals by reducing antitrust concerns.

. Revise insurance regulations to allow companies to provide incentives for clients to travel farther for the care they receive.

. Financially support the development of electronic medical records through state bonding.

. Require all hospitals and hospital systems to publicly report the full annual compensations of their five highest-earning officers.

. Encourage hospitals to meet voluntary caps on cost increases and profits.

. Intensify the state’s review of hospitals’ spending on new technologies and facilities.

. Require hospitals to accept a standardized way of reporting complex financial information so analysts and consumers can make meaningful comparisons.

The nine-member commission was created by the Dirigo Health Reform Act of 2003 and includes hospital administrators, physicians, an economist and representatives of the insurance industry, the nursing profession, employers and consumers.

“This was a very unusual process,” according to Mary Mayhew, vice president for governmental affairs and communications for the Maine Hospital Association. Mayhew said Wednesday that though the two hospital administrators on the commission did a good job of upholding the concerns of the industry, their views are not adequately represented in the final report.

“We remain concerned about the characterization of hospitals … and the lack of acknowledgment of the work they do to meet their missions in the community,” she said. Mayhew accused the commission of using flawed data and a “simplistic equation” that disregards the impact of consumer demand on hospital finances.

“Unlike typical legislative studies that are based on consensus … this process has been driven more by the concerns of the chair,” she said.

Commission members will take comments on the recommendations at public hearings during the first week in January. A final version is expected to be presented to the Legislature at the end of the month.

The full draft report as well as an executive summary is available online at www.dirigohealth.maine.gov/dhsp07c.html or by calling the Governor’s Office of Health Policy and Finance at 624-7442.

Public hearings scheduled on hospital study report

Portland – 9 a.m.-noon Thursday, Jan. 6, Doubletree Hotel, 1230 Congress St.

Augusta – 2-5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 6, Calumet Club, 334 Northern Ave.

Bangor – 9 a.m.-noon Friday, Jan. 7, Bangor Motor Inn, 701 Hogan Road.