HMA stock takes a beating in the market

It's hard to say whether the recent stock-market downturn caused Health Management Associates' stock to lose more than a quarter of its value in five days.

But it didn't help that the company revealed federal investigations into some of its practices in the quarterly results it filed on Aug. 3 with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Among other issues, HMA disclosed that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources had sent subpoenas to the company regarding physician referrals, hospital ownership joint ventures and emergency room management.

This is important because joint ventures with physicians and improvements in the emergency rooms at the company's 60 hospitals have been a bright spot for the company. Joint ventures give physicians a stake in improving the performance at hospitals while emergency room efficiencies boost patient revenues.