Category Archives: Hospital

Kaiser plans $13B expansion in Baltimore area

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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/facilities-management/kaiser-plans-13b-expansion-in-baltimore-area.html

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Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente plans to open 10 new medical facilities in the Baltimore area as part of a $13 billion expansion plan, according to the Baltimore Business Journal.

Kaiser currently operates 18 medical facilities in Maryland, including five in the Baltimore area, and is the second-largest health insurer in the state. The new facilities will be completed by 2028 and are expected to boost Kaiser’s insurance plan membership.

“We believe that the increased number of facilities will allow for easier access to care where people live and work — and that will create member growth,” Kaiser wrote in a statement to the Baltimore Business Journal.

Kaiser provides health coverage to roughly 70,000 people in Maryland and offers care to those members at its medical centers and clinics. Adding new facilities will allow Kaiser to help improve community health and support the local economy, Kim Horn, region vice preside of Kaiser, said in a statement to the Baltimore Business Journal.

“Our Baltimore strategy is driven by what we call impact investing,” she said. “We believe health care investments can support community health, which translates to rewarding jobs, steady income, stable housing and nutritious foods.”

The expansion is expected to create roughly 18,000 new jobs in Greater Baltimore.

Access the full Baltimore Business Journal article here.

 

Healthcare joins Black Friday frenzy

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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/consumerism/healthcare-joins-black-friday-frenzy.html

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Black Friday arrives Nov. 29, and it could be a good time to save on medical supplies or healthcare services.

GE Healthcare Life Sciences has a webpage dedicated to its Black Friday offers. The company has cut prices on hundreds of items, including protein analysis equipment supplies and chromatography products. Though the discounts are promoted as Black Friday deals, the offers are available until Dec. 8.

A hospital in Mississippi is also offering holiday discounts for accounts paid in full. Corinth, Miss.-based Magnolia Regional Medical Center is offering a 20 percent discount on balances of up to $1,000, and the discounts increase with the balances. Patients who pay off balances of $6,001 and more will receive a 50 percent discount. The hospital’s website says the discounts are available “for a limited time, and just in time for the holidays.”

Magnolia Regional Medical Center isn’t the first hospital to offer these types of discounts. Last year, Gooding, Idaho-based North Canyon Medical Center offered Black-Friday-style deals on some outpatient services to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

 

Supreme Court sets date for Louisiana abortion case

Posted on by • Posted in 2020 Election Issues, Health Policy, Health System, Hospital, Hospital Industry, Medical Group, Physician, Roe v. Wade, Supreme Court, Womens Health • Leave a comment

Supreme Court sets date for Louisiana abortion case

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The Supreme Court has set a date, March 4, to hear oral arguments in a case over a Louisiana abortion law. 

The hot-button case is about a Louisiana law that would require doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. Critics say this is aimed at forcing abortion clinics to close. 

In February, the court ruled to prevent the law from taking effect while it faces a legal challenge. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the liberal justices in this decision, but it is unclear whether he would vote to block the law permanently.

A similar law in Texas was struck down 5-3 in 2016, but Roberts voted to uphold that law at the time. Justice Anthony Kennedy has retired since then.

The case will be the first abortion case heard by the high court since Trump nominees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh have joined the bench.

“All eyes must be on the Supreme Court come March. This case will have lasting consequences for abortion access across the country. Many states have been openly defying Supreme Court decisions in an effort to criminalize abortion,” the Center for Reproductive Rights CEO Nancy Northup said in a statement Tuesday.

“At this critical juncture, the Court needs to set those states straight. If they don’t, Louisiana will be left with a single abortion provider at just one clinic, and other states could soon follow,” Northup added.

In recent months, a number of states have passed laws to restrict abortion. Many have been challenged or blocked in court. 

 

 

1,250 healthcare deals have been announced, completed this year

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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-transactions-and-valuation/1-250-healthcare-deals-have-been-announced-completed-this-year.html?origin=cfoe&utm_source=cfoe

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The healthcare industry saw 1,250 deals announced or completed through October of this year, according to Bloomberg Law. 

The healthcare deal volume in 2019 is significantly higher than the same period last year, which had 900 deals announced or closed.

Merger and acquisition activity for long-term care, physician services, health IT and pharmaceutical companies are on pace to exceed the deal volume hit in 2018.

Walgreens is one company that is driving deal activity in the healthcare sector. The retail pharmacy giant recently announced it would close 157 in-store healthcare clinics it operated by the end of the year.

TriHealth announced it would buy seven of the Walgreens clinics in the Cincinnati area, and the deal is likely to be replicated elsewhere, Gary Herschman, a member of law firm Epstein Becker Green, told Bloomberg Law. 

However, the hospital and health system sector will likely end 2019 with fewer deals than in 2018, according to the report.

There were only 12 transactions in the hospital and health system sector in October, according to Nicholas Davis, a senior analyst at healthcare consultancy ECG Management Partners.

 

California surgeon gets prison time for role in $580M billing fraud scheme

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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/legal-regulatory-issues/california-surgeon-gets-prison-time-for-role-in-580m-billing-fraud-scheme.html?origin=cfoe&utm_source=cfoe

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An orthopedic surgeon was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison Nov. 22 for his role in a healthcare fraud scheme that resulted in the submission of more than $580 million in fraudulent claims, mostly to California’s worker compensation system, according to the Department of Justice.

Daniel Capen, MD, was sentenced more than a year after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and soliciting and receiving kickbacks for healthcare referrals. He was one of 17 defendants charged in relation to the government’s investigation into kickbacks physicians received for patient referrals for spinal surgeries performed at Pacific Hospital in Long Beach, Calif.

Dr. Capen received at least $5 million in kickbacks for referring surgeries to Pacific Hospital and for referring services to organizations affiliated with the hospital. He allegedly accounted for $142 million of Pacific Hospital’s claims to insurers between 1998 and 2013, according to the Justice Department.

In addition to the prison term, Dr. Capen was ordered to forfeit $5 million to the federal government and pay a $500,000 fine.

 

 

 

 

California hospital reopens with help from Kaiser, Sutter Health

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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/patient-flow/california-hospital-reopens-with-help-from-kaiser-sutter-health.html?origin=cfoe&utm_source=cfoe

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Healdsburg (Calif.) District Hospital was one of three hospitals that closed in October due to the Kincade fire. While the other two hospitals reopened within days of the fire risk passing, Healdsburg District Hospital was shut down for nearly a month, according to The Press Democrat.

Healdsburg District Hospital’s 24-day closure began Oct. 26, and the California Department of Public Health allowed the hospital to reopen Nov. 20. The hospital has a smaller staff than the other facilities that closed during the wildfire, which were owned by Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente and Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health.

Healdsburg District Hospital’s 350 employees helped clean every surface in the 50,000-square-foot facility, and additional workers were brought in to help the hospital reopen. Kaiser and Sutter sent 11 staff members to help guide Healdsburg District Hospital through the reopening process.

“The small town hospital idea is more valuable than we tend to think,” Brian Seekins, director of plant operations at Healdsburg District Hospital, told The Press Democrat. “For me, I wouldn’t have thought Kaiser puts much thought into a facility like us. It’s during times like this, you’re like, ‘Wow, they’re leveraging their own resources to help us.'”

 

 

 

Texas health system closes hospital, lays off 972

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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/texas-health-system-closes-hospital-lays-off-972.html

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Nix Medical Center, a 208-bed hospital in San Antonio has closed, and its medical equipment will be sold at auction.

Nix Medical Center is part of Nix Health, which is owned by Los Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings. In September, Prospect Medical Holdings said it planned to close the hospital because community demand for acute care at Nix Medical Center has declined over the past year.

Nix Medical Center closed this month, and its medical equipment will be sold at an online auction Dec. 11. Centurian Service Group will conduct the auction.

Nix Health also closed its home health division and other facilities, including its specialty health and behavioral center. The combined closures are expected to result in 972 layoffs, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice filed Nov. 6, which states workers will be laid off Jan. 4.

Nix is part of the South Texas Crisis Collaborative, a group of facilities that offer mental health services. Other hospitals in the group are preparing to absorb an influx of patients due to the Nix closures, according to TV station KSAT.

 

Nonprofit bad debt climbs again amid steeper deductibles, Moody’s says

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https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/nonprofit-bad-debt-climbs-again-amid-steeper-deductibles-moodys-says/567981/

Dive Brief:

  • Bad debt, a proxy for unpaid bills, rose in 2018 for nonprofit hospitals after falling for several years since 2014, when some states decided to expand Medicaid, Moody’s Investors Services said in a recent report.
  • Rising deductibles are fueling the trend, as patients are on the hook for an increasing share of care costs. The growth of bad debt may at times outpace net patient revenue, the ratings agency said.
  • At the same time, deductibles and premiums are increasing faster than wage growth, another ominous signal for hospitals.

Dive Insight:

More Americans have high deductible plans than ever before, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

“More than a quarter (28%) of all covered workers, including nearly half (45%) of those at small employers with fewer than 200 employees, are now in plans with a deductible of at least $2,000, almost four times the share who faced such deductibles in 2009,” KFF said in a recent report.

But when patients with high deductibles seek care, hospitals typically have to collect from the patient first. And as more Americans struggle to afford treatment, it’s harder to collect from patients right away.

“The longer the delay between providing service and collecting payment, the less likely a hospital is to collect payment,” Moody’s said.

Many patients don’t have enough saved to cover the cost of their deductible, according to a survey from accounting firm PwC. At least a third of those with employer-based coverage and HDHPs don’t have enough on hand to pay for their deductible, the company reported.

It will be difficult for hospitals to reduce bad debt, according to Moody’s, which characterized it as an “uphill battle.” Collecting on unpaid bills requires “constant vigilance,” the ratings agency said.

In 2014, bad debt clocked in at roughly 5.6% of net patient revenue for nonprofit health systems, and then fell below 4.5% in 2016 and 2017. But in 2018, bad debt climbed again above 4.5%, Moody’s said.

 

 

 

University of Chicago Medical Center closes level 1 trauma center ahead of strike

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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/human-resources/university-of-chicago-medical-center-closes-level-1-trauma-center-ahead-of-strike.html

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University of Chicago Medical Center has closed its level 1 trauma center for adult and pediatric patients as it prepares for about 2,200 nurses to go on strike next week, medical center leaders announced.

Medical center leaders said UCMC closed its pediatric level 1 trauma program Nov. 18 and its adult trauma program Nov. 20. Its adult and pediatric emergency rooms continue to take walk-in patients.

Nurses are scheduled to strike Nov. 26, two days before Thanksgiving. The nurses also walked off the job Sept. 20 in a strike organized by National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United. They were allowed to return to work Sept. 25, after the medical center said it fulfilled its contract with temporary nurses to replace the striking ones for five days.

In preparation for the strike, UCMC announced earlier this week that it is moving about 50 babies and 20 children in its neonatal and pediatric intensive care units to other facilities.

UCMC President Sharon O’Keefe is also recruiting about 900 replacement nurses.

However, “it’s exceptionally difficult to hire people who are willing to leave their families during Thanksgiving,” she said in a news release. “At the same time, other hospitals in the city are already at or near capacity, which means they will not be able accept transfers of current inpatients if that need arises when nurses walk out. The combination of the two led us to take the step of temporarily closing our trauma program ahead of the strike.”

UCMC said the hospital was required to offer replacement nurses five days of work “to best recruit qualified and experienced replacement nurses.” Therefore, the nurses on strike will not be able to return to work until 7 a.m. Dec. 1.

Negotiations between UCMC and National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United began earlier this year. Medical center leaders say incentive pay — and whether the hospital should end the pay for newly hired nurses — is a sticking point in negotiations, according to the Chicago Tribune. The union has continued to express concerns about staffing levels.

The nurses said they plan to strike unless an agreement is reached.

 

 

 

 

Former UMMS board member indicted in fraud scheme

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https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/legal-regulatory-issues/former-umms-board-member-indicted-on-11-counts-of-fraud-tax-evasion.html

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Former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, who served on the board of University of Maryland Medical System for 18 years, was indicted on charges of wire fraud and tax evasion related to a children’s book scandal that involved the Baltimore-based health system and Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, a local CBS affiliate reports.

The indictment was unsealed Nov. 20, ahead of Ms. Pugh’s scheduled hearing on Nov. 21. If convicted, Ms. Pugh could face up to 100 years in prison and be required to forfeit her home and repay more than $769,000 allegedly obtained through the scheme.

The indictment alleges Ms. Pugh conspired with city employees to defraud buyers of her Healthy Holly children’s books, according to CBS, which published the indictment in full. It alleges Ms. Pugh arranged five $100,000 deals with UMMS to donate a total of 100,000 books to Baltimore public schools. The books were allegedly never delivered, and instead rerouted to alternate storage facilities around the city, distributed at campaign events and double-sold to other customers.

The indictment also alleges Ms. Pugh used Healthy Holly profits to fund straw donations to her mayoral campaign and to buy a house in Baltimore. She also faces allegations of tax evasion related to Healthy Holly sales, according to the report.

CBS notes Kaiser Permanente also disclosed buying $114,000 of the books at a time that overlaps with winning a $48 million contract from the city, according to the report.

The two city officials connected to the scheme pleaded guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion, according to the report.

Read the full story and access the full indictment here.