VA Hospital Accused Of Delaying Tons Of Unopened Mail, Including Checks
A former Veterans Affairs employee alleged he told managers of "pallets" full of unopened mail last year in Atlanta — likely containing thousands of personal medical records and checks meant for medical providers. Separately, controversial Palantir Technologies won a big contract with the VA.
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Former VA Employee Says He Reported Pallets Of Unopened Mail Last Year
A former Veterans Affairs employee says he notified managers last year about pallets of unopened mail — containing thousands of personal medical records and close to $200,000 in checks meant to go to medical providers — that sat for months in an Atlanta hospital basement. James Bell, who left his job as a warehouse supervisor four months ago, said he heard about the mail being stored in a rented space and had it taken to the Atlanta VA Health Care Center hospital in Decatur. He told managers about it. “This is serious. Veterans’ identities could have been stolen,” the 64-year-old Bell told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday. The unopened mail also may have led to unpaid doctors bills that resulted in liens being filed or legal actions taken against veterans, he said. (Quinn, 10/7)
In other news about veterans' care and nursing homes —
Bloomberg:
Palantir Wins $90 Million Contract With U.S. Veterans Affairs
Palantir Technologies Inc. said Thursday it won a contract with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the latest in a steady drumbeat of new government deals for the company. The contract -- a $90 million, four-year deal -- comes just days after Palantir renewed and expanded contracts with the U.S. Army and the National Institutes of Health. Those deals are worth nearly $900 million over several years. (Chapman, 10/7)
New Orleans Times-Picayune:
After State Shut Down Nursing Homes, Owner Bob Dean Files Appeal Arguing To Reopen Them
The owner of seven nursing homes that evacuated 843 residents to a squalid warehouse for Hurricane Ida has filed appeal documents to get his nursing home licenses back, arguing that the residents faced "no cruelty or indifference," though residents and their families have described living in inhumane conditions. In an Oct. 5 letter to the Louisiana Department of Health announcing that he would appeal his license revocations, Dean's attorney argued that the warehouse in Tangipahoa Parish had ample space and supplies for the 843 residents who he evacuated there. The storm was not expected to hit Independence, and its last-minute change in trajectory caused unexpected problems at the site. (Gallo and Simerman, 10/7)
In other health care industry news —
Las Vegas Review-Journal:
UMC To Contribute $12M To Expand Transplant Services
University Medical Center is donating $12 million in in-kind services, programs and cash to a campaign to expand a transplantation center in Las Vegas, the Nevada Donor Network Foundation announced Wednesday. The donation is part of the foundation’s End the Wait capital campaign to raise $35 million to add more transplantation services and programs in Nevada. UMC is the state’s only transplantation center, providing kidney transplants. Currently, residents who need other organ, tissue and eye transplants must go to medical centers in surrounding states. (Ross, 10/7)
Axios:
Pandemic Fuels Activity In Health Care's Billing Industry
Money is flowing heavily into the business of medical billing as hospitals and doctors — whose revenues were disrupted by the coronavirus — focus on maximizing every dollar they can collect from patients and insurers. The rise and even existence of the billing industry is the result of a fragmented system that is designed around multiple types of insurance plans and a system that has increasingly forced patients to shoulder more of the costs of their care. (Herman, 10/8)
Modern Healthcare:
Offering Telehealth Can Be Expensive For Small Providers, Experts Tell Senate
Senators and healthcare IT experts on Thursday raised concern that many Americans won't be able to benefit from virtual care services without affordable high-speed internet access across the country, and it's unclear where the bill should go. Telehealth proved essential for helping patients access healthcare services in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. "The digital divide is standing in our way of connecting all Americans to this vital service," said Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), chair of the Senate's Subcommittee on Communications, Media and Broadband, during Thursday's hearing. "We must connect every American to high-quality, affordable, resilient broadband—without it, the current patterns of inequity will continue to grow." (Kim Cohen, 10/7)
