tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post3092801731570181036..comments2024-03-26T00:25:34.026-04:00Comments on Not Running a Hospital: Why there is no public debate on PHS issuesPaul Levyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17065446378970179507noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-28542406505045034422014-06-02T10:38:12.789-04:002014-06-02T10:38:12.789-04:00You are correct in pointing out the lack of discus...You are correct in pointing out the lack of discussion on such an important topic. These very same people will be yelling the loudest when the ramifications of this agreement find their way into the marketplace with a group like NEMC or Steward making huge layoffs or hospital closings. When this does inevitably happen it will be interesting to see the politicians and others express shock and outrage that such a thing could happen when it is clear as day to anyone who follows the Partners story. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-44352073053285486842014-06-02T06:47:35.714-04:002014-06-02T06:47:35.714-04:00I have to agree with ME Matlaw. Partners is one of...I have to agree with ME Matlaw. Partners is one of the few hospital systems in the country, nay the world, with the financial and other resources to do truly ground breaking work in health care delivery and patient safety/quality. Instead, they have concentrated on amassing a war chest of money and political power more befitting a Wall Street bank than a hospital. This smacks of leadership ego rather than caring for patients. <br />Although as a practicing physician in the Southeast I had always subscribed to the idea of clinical excellence at MGH and others, my eyes have been opened. Time to get off the pot and do the things to deserve your reputation, which is rapidly eroding.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-24936563585150403262014-06-01T22:57:51.433-04:002014-06-01T22:57:51.433-04:00@anon 1:26, your comment would be much more powerf...@anon 1:26, your comment would be much more powerful were it not hiding behind the veil of anonymity. I wonder what your relationship is to Partners. On the substantive front, if Partners really is better than everyone as they claim, why not publish their clinical outcomes data? Every single hospital collects this information; few make it transparent in real time. I find it highly ironic that, despite Atul Gawande's widely accepted work on surgical checklists, his own hospital, the Brigham, doesn't have this protocal in place. That's just one example of where Partners' hospitals aren't following evidence-based best practice. If Partners does in fact have better clinical outcomes than other places - and a real claim to excellence other than reputational marketing - what do they have to hide by not publishing outcomes data in real time? <br /><br />M.E. MatlawAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-49620935462034320402014-05-31T20:46:56.394-04:002014-05-31T20:46:56.394-04:00Does PHS get paid any more than competing local ac...Does PHS get paid any more than competing local academic medical centers for services provided to Medicare and Medicaid patients? If so, how much more are they paid and how much higher are their costs? If their payment rates are comparable, then their market power to extract higher prices is limited to the commercially insured population below age 65. For this population, it falls to employers and insurers to educate employees and insured members about significant differences in costs for care of comparable quality. Insurers have tools including tiered networks and narrow networks to address this. They can also move to implement reference pricing where it makes sense,<br /><br />Barry Carolnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-42222796870614071262014-05-31T13:26:37.215-04:002014-05-31T13:26:37.215-04:00Perhaps because folks are not all that enchanted w...Perhaps because folks are not all that enchanted with what the PHS or other feds have to offer regarding what those organizations have deemed in their administrative wisdom passes for good healthcare. Witness the Massachusetts Mess and well as VA nationwide. Perhaps Partners has simply captured the market with excellence in spite of claims to the contrary. I have begun to find your Partner bashing and pot stirring rather creepy. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32053362.post-33643562648062143862014-05-31T13:17:14.250-04:002014-05-31T13:17:14.250-04:00It seems to me that your real problem in Boston is...It seems to me that your real problem in Boston is that the public just doesn't care how much power Partners accrues, as long as their insurance plans include it. They perceive that it costs them nothing, and no one is successfully educating them otherwise, least of all the public institutions in Partners' debt.<br />Boston is behaving just like a rural small town whose only source of employment (and accompanying embedded political power) is the one local community hospital. Pretty amazing that a city of such size and purported sophistication has been so captured.<br /><br />nonlocal MDAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com