Carlisle Regional Medical Center will be featured on Sunday's 60 Minutes. which will air on CBS 21.
The show's producers tell CBS 21 News, that the segment is called "The Cost of Admission". It investigates allegations from doctors, that the hospital chain they worked for pressured them to admit patients, regardless of their medical needs.
Health Management Associates owns the hospital.
In a conference call with investors this morning, HMA Senior Vice President Alan Levine called the allegations false. "And patients are admitted from emergency departments only, only, by primary care doctors, hospitalists, or specialists exercising their judgement in working in consultation with our er doctors. Simply put, administrators can not and do not admit patients."
Levine also explained to investors that there is no data to support the accusations the doctors are making to 60-minutes. "As i said, 60 Minutes' questions to me focused on admissions through our emergency rooms and general time period of late 2008-2011. An analysis from a third party expert shows that during that time period the admissions rates remained consistent and in line with industry norms. We have seen no evidence of trends, spikes or jumps that could be attributed to anything going on in the ER Department, given the hard data we remain uncertain about what to expect from the 60 Minutes story."
Unsure of what will air on Sunday, Levine says the 60 Minutes segment should focus on challenges faced by the industry, things like patient classification and other pressures created on hospitals. "I understand that such topics do not make for sensational news, in fact we could spend days discussing nuances of hospital operations, given that I would relay to you that I did my best to educate 60 minutes about the topics they raised."
Carlisle Regional Medical Center says they have no comment until after the "60 Minutes" story airs.
The show's producers tell CBS 21 News, that the segment is called "The Cost of Admission". It investigates allegations from doctors, that the hospital chain they worked for pressured them to admit patients, regardless of their medical needs.
Health Management Associates owns the hospital.
In a conference call with investors this morning, HMA Senior Vice President Alan Levine called the allegations false. "And patients are admitted from emergency departments only, only, by primary care doctors, hospitalists, or specialists exercising their judgement in working in consultation with our er doctors. Simply put, administrators can not and do not admit patients."
Levine also explained to investors that there is no data to support the accusations the doctors are making to 60-minutes. "As i said, 60 Minutes' questions to me focused on admissions through our emergency rooms and general time period of late 2008-2011. An analysis from a third party expert shows that during that time period the admissions rates remained consistent and in line with industry norms. We have seen no evidence of trends, spikes or jumps that could be attributed to anything going on in the ER Department, given the hard data we remain uncertain about what to expect from the 60 Minutes story."
Unsure of what will air on Sunday, Levine says the 60 Minutes segment should focus on challenges faced by the industry, things like patient classification and other pressures created on hospitals. "I understand that such topics do not make for sensational news, in fact we could spend days discussing nuances of hospital operations, given that I would relay to you that I did my best to educate 60 minutes about the topics they raised."
Carlisle Regional Medical Center says they have no comment until after the "60 Minutes" story airs.
