One of these three is not like the others

I borrow this old expression from Sesame Street to present a contrast that is indicative of the health care environment in the US, made all the more poignant by the fact that this is occurring in our nation's capital.This is United Medical Center, a safety net hospital serving one the poorest parts of the District of Columbia.  The Washington Post reports that the District paid $12 million to Huron Healthcare to operate the hospital and make recommendations for its future.Under its contract, Huron assumed management of United Medical Center in late March. It is undertaking a “strategic review” of the hospital’s operations and is expected to develop a proposal to help turn around the hospital in the coming weeks for the approval of the hospital’s board in July. (By the way, I provided recommendations pro bono a few months ago.  Remind me to raise my rates!)That UMC is failing financially is a multifaceted problem, but it basically a result of the structure of compensation provided to safety net hospitals.  The body politic in DC--including the US Congress and the current Administration--has failed to deal with the issue.  The result is a degradation in the quality and availability of service to people in this neighborhood.  As I have said: The DC government and local constituencies will only solve UMC's problems when the federal government makes the proper commitment to providing the poor people in this part of the District with "a full-...
Source: Running a hospital - Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs