Sunday, August 12, 2012

Accretive Health and "unnecessary aggressiveness"


If you haven't been following the discussion on Accretive Health, the commentary has been overwhelmingly negative regarding their aggressive and predatory behavior toward patients in the hospital, behavior which has been documented by numerous patient affidavits submitted to Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson. However, there are a few authors who took a different view and needed to be challenged, and you can read more from DeadlyDismissal in the comments sections of the following:

On Forbes:
Why the media can't handle the truth about Accretive Health

Obamacare won't eliminate the need for bill collectors like Accretive Health

On HIPAA Blog:
More on the Accretive Case: Al Franken puts on a show.

Over at the HIPAA Blog, blog author Jeff Drummond did not post my last reply, despite that I submitted it 3 separate times, so I'm including it here:
If one reads through the comments section in the article you cite, including the thumbs ups and thumbs downs, it becomes clear that your opinion is not the mainstream one--in fact, it's decidedly at odds with the prevailing reader opinion. Moreover, one persistent commenter was repeatedly thumbs downed and then corrected for using the same argument as yours. The response was that people who testified at the hearing weren't people who "don't pay their bills" as you both suggested, nor would they agree that the hospital "should never ask them for money." 
I'd ask you to consider that emotion isn't always tied to hysteria or lack of reason. Sometimes it might be a clue that empathy and decency have been too far submerged. I think the leadership at both Fairview and Accretive Health now agree that things might have been better done differently, at least in some instances, and I hope all are working toward changing negative aspects of that former culture. Otherwise, a regulatory nudge in a new direction may be required.

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