Debt Collector Is Faulted for Tough Tactics in Hospitals

[SecularMotion]

Source: NY Times

Hospital patients waiting in the emergency room or convalescing after surgery could find themselves confronted by an unexpected visitor: a debt collector at bedside.

One of the nation’s largest medical debt-collection companies is under fire in Minnesota for having placed its employees in emergency rooms and other departments at two hospitals and demanding that patients pay before receiving treatment, according to documents released Tuesday by the Minnesota attorney general. The documents say the company also used patient health records to wrangle for more money on overdue bills.

The company, Accretive Health, has contracts with dozens of hospitals around the country. Since January, it has faced a civil lawsuit filed by Attorney General Lori Swanson of Minnesota alleging that it violated state and federal debt-collection laws and patient privacy protections.

Ms. Swanson, though not bringing further charges on Tuesday, said she was in discussions with state and federal regulators to prompt a widespread crackdown on Accretive Health’s practices in other states.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/25/business/debt-collector-is-faulted-for-tough-tactics-in-hospitals.html?_r=1&hp

[cbayer]

1. This is a flagrant violation of EMTALA and can result in severe penalties.

[cbayer]

6. EMTALA - Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act

It's a law that prohibits any hospital emergency room from denying a screening exam and stabilizing treatment based on ability to pay.

They aren't even allowed to ask about insurance until they are finished.

It's a serious, serious law.

[cbayer]

8. This law applies only to emergency rooms, where this debt collection agency is

apparently operating.

In a doctor's office or clinic or even urgent care center, this does not apply.

[cbayer]

10. Let me make sure I am clear here.

The emergency room is required to supply a screening exam and stabilizing treatment. Stabilizing means that the patient is not going to die if discharged or can be transported safely.

They are not required to admit a patient who is essentially stable.

If you ever see an unstable patient discharged or denied a screening exam and stabilizing treatment because they fail the wallet biopsy, you should call the feds.

Seriously.

[lovuian]

13. I was asked in the waiting room in the ER

for money

Did they violate the law?

[cbayer]

15. Yes. If you were asked in the ER before your screening exam, they broke the law.

Report them.

[riverbendviewgal]

2. Thank God I live in Canada

This does not happen here.

[Downwinder]

3. Keep rubbing it in.

[freshwest]

5. The Germans have a word for that...

[SunSeeker]

11. This happened to my brother at Santa Monica Hospital (near Los Angeles)

He was on a gurney in the ER moaning in pain, and a woman with a clipboard shows up and starts asking him how much he makes, what assets he owns, bank account balances, etc. I was appalled. He did get treated though, even though he is uninsured (too young for medicare, not poor enough for medi-cal; he's self-employed with a pre-existing condition, so no one will sell him insurance--even if he could afford it, which he can't). Of course, now he has a debt he will never be able to pay off.

[lovuian]

14. Same thing happened to me in the ER

I was on the gurney too with an IV

[Earth_First]

12. So how is it that a grandson or nephew cannot have access to a grandparent/aunt/uncle in the ER...

many hospitals will limit it to significant other and sons/daughters; yet these folks are allowed access?

Methinks that there has to be a bit of collusion here in order for that to occur...

[LiberalFighter]

16. I'm wondering if the hospitals provided access to medical records of patients?

If so, wouldn't that be a violation that the hospital could be prosecuted?

[Sgent]

17. Not neccessarily

Hospitals are allowed to employ outside billing companies, debt collectors, etc. That being said, they are only supposed to release the minimum information so that they may perform their jobs. If you look at the HIPAA policy, it will mention business operations and associates.

I'm an accountant and deal with medical practices / surgical centers regularly. Although I don't routinely need access to patient records, there are times (when performing an audit) that I will need access to a random sample. Including the actual doctor / nursing notes for purposes of making sure that they billed correctly.

That being said, all the entities I audit have to record the fact that I accessed a specific record, and are required to protect it while in my possession. In my case I do the audits on site and never leave the premises with the actual chart, although the names and dates of service (not the diagnosis or treatment) do have to be in my work papers on an ongoing basis.