The board of Newman Regional Health met Wednesday afternoon and discussed several items, including a letter from Kansas Attorney General Stephen Six. Six was replying to a request from Jim Barnett of Emporia, who is state senator in the 17th district and a physician.
Barnett had asked the attorney general’s office to look into two questions: whether a county hospital operating under a management team may enter into contracts that include a group purchasing fee; and whether the discussion of quality of care and staffing issues that do not involve individual patients is allowable in executive session.
In a phone conversation Wednesday evening, Barnett explained what prompted him to raise the questions.
“The prior administrator asked me to meet with the executive committee and the hospital board to discuss concerns about quality of care,” Barnett said, adding that they wanted to meet with him in executive session.
“I felt that it would be in conflict with the Kansas Open Meetings Act. I felt it would be breaking the law in simple terms. I declined his offer to meet and requested the attorney general’s opinion. I am fairly familiar with the Kansas Open Meeting laws for my time on the school board and on the Kansas Legislature and had no intentions of discussing anything inappropriate in open session.”
Barnett said the board wanted to meet with him both as a senator and a health-care professional.
Barnett’s other question focused on group-purchasing fees. Barnett said he has been concerned about this for several reasons.
“The hospital has a contract with Quorum (its management company) that includes the purchase of services from what are called preferred vendors,” Barnett said. “Through that contract they receive significant discounts from purchase of various products. That is common and appropriate. But what concerned me was that Quorum also receives a rebate in addition to the discounts that the hospital received. The hospital received a discount and Quorum health also receives a rebate. In my opinion, that could be viewed as a kickback.”
Barnett said he asked the hospital to provide him information on the amount of rebates.
“I found it very difficult to obtain information from the hospital regarding the amount of rebates,” Barnett said. “I obtained the information through an open-records request … they (rebates) ranged from 10 to 30 percent of total value of contract with Quorum Health.”
Barnett said he is concerned that kickbacks are encouraging the purchase from certain vendors in order to receive rebates. This also has him concerned about the direction Newman is taking with technology.
“I’m not making that direct accusation, that is a concern,” Barnett said. “This involves public money. This is our money. This involves public money and I felt it was appropriate to ask that question. I felt I had received an inadequate response from administration.”
In his response, Six stated that “a private hospital management company operating a county hospital may receive fees from a group purchasing organization provided those fees are reported as required by statute. A general discussion of quality of care and staffing issues would not be allowed in an executive session unless the topic concerned an individual staff member, patient or another subject closed by statute.”
Six’s written opinion elaborated on the collection of fees by Quorum.
“The group purchasing fees that may be collected by Quorum, as manager of the hospital, may be retained provided they are reported to the appropriate agencies that use public funds to reimburse the hospital for services provided.”
The hospital’s attorney Steve Atherton said the attorney general’s office doesn’t have a problem with the way the hospital is being run.
“They restricted it a bit, but I don’t think that’s going to be a problem with the hospital’s move toward transparency,” Atherton said.
“Our goal is to be as transparent as possible with our consumers,” administrator Robert Driewer said.
admireed (anonymous) says...
How could a meeting of this type not be about specific management/administrators at Newman? Discussing nursing, admissions, emergency room, staffing...etc. has to confront those specific people in charge.
November 20, 2008 at 5:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
emporialady (anonymous) says...
Or, was Dr. Barnett unable to back up his vague accusations with actual examples that would have involved a specific patient and/or staff member that would have made it appropriate for executive session?
November 20, 2008 at 7:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
workingmomma (anonymous) says...
I really think Dr. Barnett has become completely detached from Emporia's health care needs, and should either decide to be a Doctor or a Senator, because it is obvious he can't do both well. He is one of the biggest reasons that the hospital has gotten a bad wrap in the community, and that is really unfortunate. It is too bad that his patients can't see what he is really like and how demanding one Doctor can be on so many people in one organization. I hope many of the Emporians can see past Dr. Barnett's smokescreens and realize that we are fortunate to have such a good hospital with caring staff.
November 20, 2008 at 9:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )