VIP patients create quandary for hospitals

VIP patients place enormous pressure on hospital staff to treat them differently--including handing out lavish gifts and cash--often making resistance extremely difficult, The Boston Globe has reported. One case at Brigham and Women's Hospital involved a patient giving the staff thousands of dollars in gratuities, leading to him receiving medications from his personal aides. That violated hospital regulations and led to a citation from Massachusetts regulators. Meanwhile, more hospitals are trying to lure in such patients- many of them foreign nationals willing to pay out-of-pocket for their care--as a potentially lucrative new revenue stream, leaving executives and clinicians trying to find ways to strike an appropriate balance regarding care and patient expectations. Read the full article at FierceHealthcare