LTC Bullet: Employees Paid
Bonus to Unload Medicaid Patients
Thursday July 2, 1998
Seattle--
Another example why people should plan ahead to avoid Medicaid
dependency:
The Savannah Morning News reported last week that Savannah Rehabilitation
and Nursing Center, a Vencor-owned property, had been offering
its employees a $200 bonus for each "properly planned"
discharge of a Medicaid patient.
The Georgia Office of Regulatory Services (ORS) indicated that
there had been at least 14 cases of improperly discharged or transferred
patients in the past year and that two patients died shortly after
being moved.
David Dunbar, Director of the ORS's LTC section, said in the story
that the bonus was not necessarily illegal or even unethical,
unless employees were encouraged to discharge patients before
they were ready.
The ORS referred the matter to the state health care fraud control
unit in Atlanta and recommended that Vencor be fined for improper
discharge practices.
Although the facility has dropped its bonus policy, this story
provides one more example why Medicaid-financed LTC can be a scary
proposition.
Source: The Savannah Morning News 6/26/98
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