Where there's a bill, there's...a way. HCA units are handling bill collecting, other services for providers, while Tenet considers getting a piece of the action.

Hospitals are just not in the business of collecting money," says Suzanne Lestina, left, of the Healthcare Financial Management Association. "It's not their expertise." To tackle that problem, HCA-by way of a subsidiary-is now selling itself as a provider of those collection services. While it's too early to call this a trend, other organizations say they have pondered employing similar strategies.