Is Private Medical Insurance Really Less Intrusive than Government?

Is Jennie Stewart Hospital being treated fairly or not?

We have written about the conflicts between medical providers and insurance companies in these pages before. The recent spate of lawsuits and public recriminations related to Medicaid Managed Care in Kentucky give particular insight into the posturing and dueling over who gets to keep how much of our tax and insurance premium money. What is usually left out over these increasingly pubic spats in the magical world of medical pricing is just how many dollars are involved. Continue reading “Is Private Medical Insurance Really Less Intrusive than Government?”

VA Hospital Location: Public Forum Tonight: April 18

THE VA HOSPITAL WILL HOST A MEETING ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18TH AT KAMMERER MIDDLE SCHOOL AT 7315  WESBORO ROAD (off Herr Lane) from  6 TO 8PM.

There will be remarks by Wayne Pfeffer, Director of the VA Hospital on Zorn Ave plus other speakers from the VA.  After the presentation of the draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment Study,  veterans, neighbors and other interested people will have time to make comments.

Behind Closed Red Doors at UofL.

What, if anything, is happening?

In their original RFP, the University of Louisville and University Medical Center, Inc. announced their intention to sign a Notification of Intent to close a deal with their preferred new partner/owner during the week of April 16. To be honest, I do not have a verifiable clue about what is going on. I have, however, heard many rumors from people closer the the potential players than I am. Since I have nothing better to write about, let me share a few of the most interesting of these. I do so to illustrate the span of concerns or perspectives that other observers have. Finally, in the absence of hard facts, l will suggest in a companion commentary what I think an agreement that is in the best interest of both our public University and the community it serves should look like. Continue reading “Behind Closed Red Doors at UofL.”

Third Meeting of UofL Hospital Operations Review Committee.

Finally some real data.

On April 5, the Ad Hoc Operations review committee of University Medical Center, Inc. (UMC) met for the third time. This was the first meeting in which substantive analysis was presented by the consultants of Dixon Hughes Goodman. Unfortunately, Committee attendance continues to dwindle. Only five of the 10 committee members attended, one of those by telephone. In the peanut public gallery were myself, reporter Patrick Howington, and someone from Brown-Forman. One additional meeting before a final meeting on May 9 is planned.

The entirety of the meeting was a PowerPoint presentation by the consultants with only a few questions and comments from committee members. No handouts were presented as the material was said to be a work in progress. I could not help but suspect there was also some desire that the information not be disseminated. Indeed, most of the data presented must have been disappointing to the University. In any event, I photographed the projected slides and they are available here.

Senior consultant Craig Anderson, Sr. gave an update on the status of the project and lead his team of two additional people through a brief review of the challenges facing all academic medical centers (AMCs), some themes and observations from initial interviews with Hospital and University personnel, and some initial data addressing four of the hypotheses to be tested: lack of physician alignment, quality of clinical care and operations, payer environment, and facility constraints. Continue reading “Third Meeting of UofL Hospital Operations Review Committee.”