MORE ON: hospitals

Spotlight: Health and Welfare

React & Act: Medicare, money and your hospital experience

October 14, 2011, 12:05 AM
Former medical coding staff from Prime Healthcare hospitals have raised concerns about diagnoses that may misconstrue what’s going on with the patient. However, it is not always easy for patients to know what diagnoses were used as a basis for a hospital bill to Medicare. Find answers to questions... + read more
Spotlight: Health and Welfare

In their own words: Turmoil, turnover among medical coders

October 14, 2011, 12:05 AM
The following documents reflect the sentiments of former Prime Healthcare employees; Kaiser; and Prime's founder and board chairman, Dr. Prem Reddy. A Prime spokesman has said the company follows all laws and regulations and cautions against listening to disgruntled employees. + read more
Spotlight: Health and Welfare

Prime Healthcare's treatment of rare ailments stands out

October 14, 2011, 12:01 AM
Prime Healthcare Services bills Medicare for a variety of unusual ailments – among them a brain disease and a condition causing eyes to bleed – that can generate lucrative payments to the chain.  + read more
Spotlight: Health and Welfare

Video: Doctors were coached on diagnoses, ex-staff say

October 14, 2011, 12:00 AM
Prime Healthcare Services has a reputation for buying financially troubled hospitals and turning them around, winning awards and reporting profits in the tens of millions. But a more troubling trend has emerged, according to an investigation by California Watch. Prime hospitals report that the... + read more
Spotlight: Health and Welfare

Ex-medical coding director questions Prime’s Medicare billing practices

October 14, 2011, 12:00 AM
Prime Healthcare has responded to questions about medical coding by saying it relies on doctors to properly diagnose patients and on hospital chief executives to oversee legal compliance. Prime also cautioned against “being duped by innuendo and misstatements” by disgruntled former workers. + read more
Spotlight: Health and Welfare

How we calculated hospitals’ diagnosis rates

October 13, 2011, 11:58 PM
To examine three medical conditions reported by Prime Healthcare Services hospitals, we conducted a computer-assisted analysis of California hospital inpatient discharge data. The data is kept by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. + read more
California Watch
Data: Health and Welfare

More seniors with Medicare admitted after Prime Healthcare takeover

August 29, 2011, 4:53 PM
Prime Healthcare Services acquired 11 California hospitals from 2005 to 2009. After Prime acquired each facility, the percentage of seniors with Medicare who were sent from the emergency room to the main hospital increased. Compare the Medicare admission rates at each hospital, before and after... + read more
Spotlight: Health and Welfare

How we calculated hospitals’ ER admission rates

July 23, 2011, 2:07 PM
California Watch analyzed state data to determine admission rates at Prime Healthcare Services hospitals. Here’s how we crunched the numbers. + read more
Spotlight: Health and Welfare

Ex-employees say Prime hospitals stretch to keep patients

July 23, 2011, 2:06 PM
Deciding when a patient is stable enough to leave a hospital is difficult for any doctor, but some former employees of Prime Healthcare Services say the chain has gone to extreme lengths to keep patients at their medical facilities. + read more
Spotlight: Health and Welfare

Graphic: More seniors with Medicare admitted after Prime Healthcare takeover

July 23, 2011, 2:05 PM
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Spotlight: Health and Welfare

In their own words: Making emergency care profitable

July 23, 2011, 2:05 PM
Prime Healthcare Services has turned around the finances of more than a dozen struggling California hospitals by focusing on emergency room operations. Some chain critics say the changes have come with a cost.      + read more
Spotlight: Health and Welfare

React & Act: How do doctors decide which patients to admit?

July 23, 2011, 2:05 PM
The following FAQ addresses the guidelines doctors consider when deciding whether to admit patients to a hospital, options for patients who wind up in emergency rooms, and oversight measures by Medicare. + read more
Spotlight: Health and Welfare

In their own words: Prime's tense relations with insurers

July 23, 2011, 2:05 PM
Prime Healthcare Services, California's largest for-profit hospital chain, has had private grudges and public disputes over health insurers paying bottom dollar and managing patient care from business offices. Managed care firms, in turn, say Prime captures its patients in the interest of profit.... + read more
Spotlight: Health and Welfare

Chain profits by admitting ER patients

July 23, 2011, 2:03 PM
A Southern California hospital chain has transferred an unusually high number of patients from its emergency rooms to its hospital beds, gaining hundreds of millions of dollars by targeting people with Medicare, a California Watch investigation has found. + read more
Spotlight: Health and Welfare

Cadena de hospitales aumenta ganancias admitiendo más cantidad de pacientes de emergencia

July 23, 2011, 2:01 PM
Estos pacientes llegaron a los hospitales de la cadena Prime con verdaderos problemas médicos. Pero terminaron siendo blancos de una estrategia empresarial cuyo objetivo es maximizar la cantidad de pacientes con seguro que reciben tratamiento en los hospitales de la empresa, según un análisis de... + read more
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