https://mailchi.mp/b1e0aa55afe5/the-weekly-gist-october-7-2022?e=d1e747d2d8

In an explosive two-part series published late last month, New York Times reporters Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Katie Thomas cast a spotlight on the revenue collection tactics used by two of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health systems, Renton, WA-based Providence and Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health.

The articles detail how Providence leveraged help from consulting firm McKinsey & Company to collect sums as small as $2 from patients pressured to pay anything they could for their care, even if many were actually eligible for free care under state law. Bon Secours was scrutinized for conduct in its Richmond, VA market, where it was portrayed as leveraging safety-net facility Richmond Community Hospital for its 340B license, while stripping out essential services needed by the surrounding lower-income community.

Both health systems have responded to the Times investigation, Providence by refunding payments collected from hundreds of low-income patients, saying they were charged due to an “unintended error,” and Bon Secours by claiming the allegations in the article were “baseless” and stating that it has invested millions into its Richmond Community Hospital.    

The Gist: Providence and Bon Secours Mercy Health are far from the only health systems accused of pursuing patient collections though any means available, which makes these articles especially worrisome to many system executives: the tactics deployed by the two systems are relatively common across the industry.

Given current margin pressures, health systems are already beginning to double down on aggressive revenue cycle management. But as most are also not-for-profit organizations who anchor their missions in providing community benefit, their tactics must also pass muster when judged in the court of public opinion.