billing practices

The government investigation into the activities of non-profit hospitals is showing signs of intensifying, The New York Times reports. Congressional leaders are threatening to take action to regulate the industry if it does not enact reforms itself. The Senate Finance Committee's Charles Grassley (R-IA) sent a letter to the American Hospital Association last week listing a series of problems he thinks the non-profit sector needs to address. Grassley said he is concerned about …

Tenet turned in a Q4 loss of $251 million, down from $2.19 billion a year ago. The company blames uncollected patient debt. Last year, Tenet moved its headquarters from Santa Barbara to Dallas and began a major belt-tightening campaign. Analyst opinion on the company remains sharply divided, with only a few experts predicting a good year. Credit Suisse First Boston is one of few bulls, rating the stock "outperform." Tenet has several outstanding problems, such as the official …

Two prominent New York area hospitals will provide refunds to customers according to the terms of an agreement reached with attorney general Eliot Spitzer's office. Beth Israel Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian will pay back patients in cases in which the attorney general's office has determined improper billing was involved. Spitzer's investigation found that hospitals in the state often bill patients directly when they have problems collecting, even when it is clear that an …

Following an internal audit, the Dallas-based healthcare provider Tenet said on Thursday that it must restate earnings from 2000 to 2004. Investors were not deterred by the news, however. The company's shares are up again slightly this morning, as traders appear to be guessing that the news means that the company will finally be able to put its troubles behind it. Some analysts, including critics in a dissident shareholder group, had predicted that the audit would uncover far more serious …

A state panel in Connecticut ruled that HMOs must disclose information about their billing practices. The state's Freedom of Information Commission ruled that four HMOs that run Medicaid networks perform a governmental function and thus are subject to disclosure laws. The companies involved are Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Connecticut, Community Health Network of Connecticut, Health Net of Connecticut and WellCare of Connecticut. The dispute arose after Yale School of Public …

Three years after a raid by FBI agents at Tenet's Redding Medical Center focused national attention on the company, two heart surgeons are accused of conducting unnecessary heart surgeries on hundreds of Medicare patients. Heart Surgeon Fidel Realyvasquez and cardiologist Chae Moon have agreed to civil settlements. Both doctors will pay fines of $1.4 million. The inquiry into billing practices at the hospital is generally seen as a turning point that began a run of epic bad luck for …

Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare continues to work its way back from the problems which threatened to bankrupt the company a year ago, posting a narrower second-quarter loss despite a drop in overall admissions. The hospital chain reports losses of $21 million this quarter, down from a loss of $426 million in the same quarter a year ago. The company said a small increase in emergency room admissions and a drop in doubtful debt helped improved its financial picture. Tenet remains under SEC …

The Wall Street Journal looks at swipe-card readers, a technology that could change medical billing practices in the future. The paper examines units made by Companion Technologies, a subsidiary of BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. In theory, the readers will allow patients to learn how much they owe for a visit or a procedure while still at the counter. That might simplify life tremendously for doctors and other providers who spend much of their time chasing down insurers …

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles a county audit has found that the consulting company hired to turn around troubled King/Drew Medical Center after years of mismanagement is in trouble of its own. Auditors concluded that Navigant Consulting may have billed the hospital for hours its employees were off-site and for time in which several took vacations. Navigant was awarded a $13.4 million contract to turn King/Drew around last year. News of the audit's findings provoked a sharp response. One …