Monthly Archives: May 2018

71% of Healthcare Orgs Say Mergers and Acquisitions Will Increase

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Compelling results from the new HealthLeaders Media Intelligence Report indicate that M&A activity levels will remain strong for some time.

Healthcare industry merger, acquisition, and partnership (MAP) activity remains strong, with little change in momentum after years of consolidation activity.

According to the 2018 HealthLeaders Media Mergers, Acquisitions, and Partnerships Survey, 71% of respondents expect their organizations’ MAP activity to increase within the next three years, a compelling result indicating that MAP activity levels will remain strong for some time. Only 20% say they expect MAP activity to remain the same, and only 2% expect this to decrease.

“I believe that the healthcare market is still under a lot of pressure from continuing reimbursement and regulatory challenges,” says Pamela Stoyanoff, MBA, CPA, FACHE, executive vice president, chief operating officer at Methodist Health System, a Dallas-based nonprofit integrated healthcare network with 10 hospitals and 28 family health centers.

“The competitive landscape is also changing, with companies entering the healthcare space that haven’t been there before, like Amazon, and unique partnerships forming like Optum buying the Health Care Advisory Board and CVS buying Aetna,” she says.

Sustained activity levels

The case for sustained activity levels over the next few years can be seen in the following: 36% of respondents say that their organization’s MAP plans for the next 12–18 months consist of both exploring potential deals and completing deals underway.

If you combine this result with the response for exploring potential deals (32%), the total reveals that 68% of respondents say they are exploring potential deals, a strong indicator for future MAP activity. Only 12% of respondents say they will be completing deals underway and mention no plans for future MAP activity.

Another aspect that reflects bullish sentiment is the dollar value of MAP activity, with 73% of respondents expecting the dollar value of their organization’s MAP activity to increase within the next three years.

Only 15% expect MAP dollar value to remain the same, and only 2% expect it to decrease. These results are considerably more positive than last year’s survey results, which were increase (55%), remain the same (34%), and decrease (12%).

 

‘What The Health?’ Medicaid, Privacy And Tom Price’s Return

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https://khn.org/news/podcast-khns-what-the-health-medicaid-privacy-and-tom-prices-return/

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President Donald Trump’s former New York doctor says Trump’s lawyer and private head of security “raided” his office and took the medical files relating to Trump, an act described by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders as “standard operating procedure.” Except that’s not how the federal health privacy law is supposed to work.

Meanwhile, Seema Verma, who heads the federal agency in charge of Medicare and Medicaid, met with reporters for a wide-ranging discussion of states’ efforts to remake their Medicaid programs and the administration’s goals of encouraging people to work to help lift them out of poverty.

Plus, Robert Blendon, a professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and its T.H. Chan School of Public Health, talks about how health issues fit into the complex politics of the 2018 midterm elections.

This week’s panelists for KHN’s “What the Health?” are Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times.

Among the takeaways from this week’s podcast:

  • Five states are seeking permission from federal officials to impose a lifetime limit on Medicaid eligibility. But despite the many changes the Trump administration officials have been making to Medicaid, they have shown no public interest in this yet.
  • Trump is considering regulations that would defund Planned Parenthood from the Title X Family Planning Program. Although anti-abortion groups would applaud such a move, it could backfire on the Republicans in November by energizing a wave of blue voters in the midterm elections.
  • Although former HHS Secretary Tom Price raised eyebrows this week with his comment disparaging the removal of the penalty for not having insurance, that stance is somewhat consistent with the administration’s earlier promise to find new ways to regulate the insurance markets.

Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week they think you should read, too.

Former finance director gets prison time for stealing $3.9M from UNC hospital

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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/legal-regulatory-issues/former-finance-director-gets-prison-time-for-stealing-3-9m-from-unc-hospital.html

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The former finance director for High Point (N.C.) Regional Hospital, part of Chapel Hill, N.C.-based UNC Health Care, was sentenced May 3 to 8.5 years in prison for embezzling $3.9 million from the hospital, according to the Department of Justice.

Kimberly Hobson worked in the accounting and finance department at High Point Regional Hospital for more than 20 years, most recently as finance director. She was fired after the hospital discovered her embezzlement in July 2017, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

Ms. Hobson was charged with wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. She pleaded guilty in February.

Over a 10-year period, Ms. Hobson wrote checks to herself and her family members, which were deposited in her personal bank account. She also sent payments from hospital accounts to her personal loans and credit cards, used a hospital-issued credit card for personal expenses, and substituted her bank account for the direct deposit accounts of nine other employees, according to the DOJ.

“Today’s stiff sentence serves notice that white collar criminals will be brought to justice,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew G.T. Martin of the Middle District of North Carolina. “Thank you to the law enforcement officers with the Department of Treasury, U.S. Secret Service, Guilford County Sheriff’s Department, and High Point Police Department who have worked diligently to uncover Ms. Hobson’s fraud and seek restitution for the hospital.”

 

Florida hospital CEO charged with fraud after allegedly embezzling funds

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http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/florida-hospital-ceo-charged-fraud-after-allegedly-embezzling-funds?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTmpFeE5tVmxNVEF3T0RVMSIsInQiOiJOZzVFMTN2NUpJTllJRVk0Q0RjN0lHQWN5bEhaOHVsWWRFWXpuQ3VDbGx2VkJYRFFmanBPaFJ0bXpvaWs2R3lmVUdGNWpjeVNKek13RWNHeVV1OHpRYUk1UngwelZ1WUhOdDU3SjZJa20rRGltZ2tCUDFFZzJWdGtKbEd3d1NtQyJ9

 

Former chief executive of Calhoun-Liberty Hospital is charged with using money to pay various personal expenses.

A former Florida hospital CEO has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges he embezzled money from the hospital where he worked through false billing practices and a shell company, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Phillip Hill Jr. of Blountstown, Florida has been indicted on 24 counts of wire fraud and 4 counts of filing false tax returns. The indictment alleges that between 2010 and 2015, when Hill served in dual roles as Chief Executive Officer and department head of Emergency Management Services, to embezzle money from Calhoun-Liberty Hospital.  According to the indictment, he billed the hospital for goods it never received using invoices in the name of “Southeastern Medical Supply,” a fake business connected to a bank account he himself controlled. The indictment also stated that Hill ordered medical supplies from eBay and other vendors then billed the hospital for them supplies at price points far exceeding what Hill actually paid, the DOJ said.

According to the indictment, Hill used the funds in the Southeastern bank account to pay personal credit card bills, fund a business he owned and operated, to obtain cash, and to pay personal expenses including groceries and travel.

The DOJ also said the indicated that an employee at the hospital once inquired after contact information for Southeastern Medical Supply, and Hill responded that he had lost his phone and didn’t have the number, and also that the last time he had “talked with” the company they were discussing going out of business.

The maximum penalty for each wire fraud count is 20 years in prison. The maximum penalty for each count of filing false tax returns is 3 years in prison.  A trial date of this July 2nd has been set. The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service — Criminal Investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the Blountstown Police Department.

CEO, CFO of Missouri hospital resign over inappropriate reimbursements

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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-executive-moves/ceo-cfo-of-missouri-hospital-resign-over-inappropriate-reimbursements.html

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The CEO and CFO of Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital in Maryland Heights, Mo., have resigned after the hospital board discovered the executives violated the hospital’s paid time off policy, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The hospital board requested and accepted the resignations of president and CEO Lauri Tanner and vice president and CFO Jean Bardwell, effective May 2, according to the report.

In a statement to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the hospital said the two executives were allegedly paid for time off “to which they were not entitled.” The hospital said the board is demanding Ms. Tanner and Ms. Bardwell repay the hospital, but it did not disclose the amount of inappropriate reimbursement the executives allegedly received.

The board’s executive committee initially identified the potential irregularities, and the board subsequently launched an investigation, which allegedly revealed the two executives violated hospital policy, according to the report.

To help prevent a similar issue from occurring in the future, the hospital has put corrective measures in place.

Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital COO Brett Moorehouse has been named interim president and CEO, and a hospital board member will serve as interim CFO, according to the St. Louis Business Journal.