Health & Welfare

Decoding Prime

How a major California hospital chain boosts its bottom line through aggressive billing practices.
Spotlight: Health & Welfare

Prime hospital’s stent placements violated state regulations

Spotlight: Health & Welfare

Hospital chain, already under scrutiny, reports high malnutrition rates

Spotlight: Health & Welfare

Prime Healthcare's treatment of rare ailments stands out

Spotlight: Health & Welfare

Chain profits by admitting ER patients

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Daily Report: Health & Welfare

Doctors claim Prime hospital kept them from patients

March 29, 2013, 12:05 AM
A dozen Southern California doctors are accusing the leadership of a Prime Healthcare Services hospital of refusing to notify them about their patients because they won’t engage in profit-driven practices, according to a request for a restraining order filed this week. The San Bernardino... + read more
Daily Report: Health & Welfare

Excerpts from Reddy’s presentation to Texas doctors

February 6, 2013, 12:05 AM
On Jan. 2, Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco, Texas, was bought by a nonprofit foundation associated with Prime Healthcare Services, a fast-growing California-based hospital chain that is under federal investigation for aggressive Medicare billings. Soon after, Dr. Prem Reddy, Prime’s... + read more
Daily Report: Health & Welfare

Prime hospital chain acknowledges it faces 2 federal investigations

February 6, 2013, 12:05 AM
The Prime Healthcare Services hospital chain has acknowledged it is the target of two federal investigations: a U.S. Justice Department probe of its Medicare billings and an inquiry into alleged violations of patient confidentiality laws. The San Bernardino County-based company disclosed the... + read more
Daily Report: Health & Welfare

Former patient claims confidentiality breach in Prime Healthcare lawsuit

January 18, 2013, 12:05 AM
A former Redding hospital patient has sued the Prime Healthcare Services chain for disclosing her medical files to hundreds of people without permission. In a lawsuit filed last month in Shasta County Superior Court, Darlene Courtois, a retired teacher's aide, accused Prime of repeatedly... + read more
Daily Report: Health & Welfare

Prime hospital abruptly stops billing Medicare for rare ailment

December 20, 2012, 12:05 AM
After billing Medicare for treating more than 1,100 cases of a rare affliction, a Prime Healthcare Services hospital in Redding abruptly stopped last year, state health records show. The change occurred soon after California Watch published a story about aggressive billing practices at the hospital... + read more
Daily Report: Health & Welfare

We stand behind facts uncovered in our Prime Healthcare reporting

December 4, 2012, 3:31 PM
California Watch has consistently stood behind its reporting on Prime Healthcare Services’ aggressive Medicare billing practices. And we continue to do so – even as our reporters have come under attack from the editor of the Redding Record Searchlight for our story about a local... + read more
Daily Report: Health & Welfare

Prime hospital fined $95,000 for confidentiality breach

November 28, 2012, 12:35 PM
A Prime Healthcare Services hospital in Redding has been fined $95,000 for publicizing a patient’s confidential medical files in an effort to discredit a California Watch news report. The state Department of Public Health imposed the financial penalties on Prime’s Shasta Regional... + read more
Daily Report: Health & Welfare

Judge dismisses Prime Healthcare antitrust suit

September 17, 2012, 12:05 AM
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by hospital chain Prime Healthcare Services that alleged Kaiser Permanente conspired with a health care workers union to drive Prime out of business. The lawsuit cited the Sherman Antitrust Act, which is meant to limit monopolies, and claimed Kaiser... + read more
Daily Report: Health & Welfare

Prime Healthcare expands, but not in California

July 6, 2012, 12:05 AM
In recent months, Southern California-based Prime Healthcare Services has bought financially troubled hospitals in Nevada, Texas and Pennsylvania. But the rapidly expanding hospital chain hit a speed bump on its home turf in San Bernardino County, where a bankruptcy judge bypassed Prime's... + read more
Daily Report: Health & Welfare

Prime hospital cited for patient confidentiality violation

May 4, 2012, 12:05 AM
A Prime Healthcare Services hospital in Redding broke state law when it publicized a patient’s confidential medical files in an effort to discredit a California Watch news report, state regulators say. The state Department of Public Health on Tuesday issued five "deficiencies"... + read more
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