Health Care Execs Behaving Badly

BY KIM BELLARD In the midst of a pandemic during which health care workers proved themselves to be very bit the heroes we like to think of them as being, it’s sobering to be reminded that the system they work in is filled with perverse incentives that work against patients’ best interests.  Four pieces of excellent journalism – two from The New York Times, and two from Kaiser Health News — this week brought that front and center.   If you haven’t read them yet, I urge you to do so, but, while you might enjoy the writing, don’t expect to enjoy their content. Let’s start with two articles in The New York Times “Profits over Patients” series by Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Katie Thomas: They Were Entitled to Free Care. Hospitals Hounded Them to Pay and How a Hospital Chain Used a Poor Neighborhood to Turn Huge Profits.  Both focus on “non-profit” hospitals – Providence, serving the northwest/west/southwest, and Bon Secours Mercy Health, serving Midwest/east/southeast (and Ireland).   Providence used a program called Rev-Up, designed by McKinsey, to solicit payments from patients who should have been entitled to free care due to their incomes.  “Ask every patient, every time,” employees were instructed.  And, “If patients did not pay, Providence sent debt collectors to pursue them.”  The state of Washington thinks this happened to at least 55,000 patients. Mind you, Providence gets huge tax breaks i...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: The Business of Health Care Health Care Execs Kaiser Health News New York Times Providence Source Type: blogs