N.C. Newspaper Claims Non-Profit Hospitals Profit by Chasing Patients

Some not-for-profit hospital systems in North Carolina are earning significant profits by being stingy at offering charity care while at the same time pursuing patients who fail to pay their bills, according to what promises to be a week-long series of articles by the Charlotte Observer newspaper.

The series, “Prognosis: Profits,” unveils numerous stories each day examining different aspects of a hospital revenue cycle. Today’s installment examines the collections practices of several hospitals, and includes stories on two hospital systems that have filed more than 24,000 lawsuits in the last five years to recover unpaid bills, on how hospitals can garnish wages, and on two individuals who were chased by collections agencies even though they had paid their bills.

The series is written for consumers of health care, and, predictably, is peppered with numerous interviews of the uninsured, indigent, and others for whom paying medical bills presents a hardship. Despite its anecdotal nature, the series takes an extensive look at how health care revenue cycle management in North Carolina is applied by some provider institutions.

The series describes “how a hunger for money and power has caused the two hospitals to sometimes lose their way, contributing to the region’s health care cost woes and leaving thousands of patients with financially crippling bills,” according to an Observer editorial. Read more here.

The newspaper charges that hospital systems are generating high profit margins at the expense of the financial health of those who receive their services. One of those systems profiled, the Carolinas Healthcare System, is on the record objecting to the Observer’s focus on total profit margins, as it includes investment income; a better metric is “operating margin,” the health care system told the Observer.

The series is available online.

Evan J. Albright is a Contributing Editor for insideARM.com.