Some physicians at Manchester (Conn.) Memorial Hospital said they are seeing payment disruptions with respect to Prospect Medical Holdings, which owns the facility, Connecticut Public Radio reported Oct. 2.
Here are five key takeaways.
1. One cardiologist said his group has not been paid for months.
Saqib Naseer, MD, who is a partner at New England Cardiology Associates and sees patients at Manchester Memorial, told Connecticut Public Radio that three other practices have also not been paid by Prospect.
Dr. Naseer said payments have been delayed by two to three months even after some of the practices hired an attorney, according to the news outlet.
2. Another physician said his practice had since been paid after payments were delayed for eight to nine months.
While not employed by the hospital, pulmonologist M. Saud Anwar, MD, told The Register Citizen that his private practice previously provided ICU coverage at Manchester.
Dr. Anwar said he and his colleague continued to work while payments were delayed.
"More or less, they have been catching up. At least in the recent past," Dr. Anwar told the newspaper. "There are times when there are delays, but it's not as bad as it was."
3. Manchester Memorial has since changed its ICU coverage model.
Dr. Anwar's practice told hospital officials that it would continue to serve as pulmonary consultants but would no longer cover the ICU, according to The Register Citizen.
James Castellone, MD, chief medical officer of Eastern Connecticut Health Network, which operates the hospital, said the physicians contracted to work there left for other reasons, according to Connecticut Public Radio.
These physicians were contracted to work a portion of the day in the ICU in an open-model ICU. The hospital has transitioned to a closed-model ICU, in which a provider is on site 24 hours a day, and it is staffed remotely at night by a physician who is board certified in critical care, Dr. Castellone told Connecticut Public Radio.
"We find it is better for patient care to have a physician on duty at night [remotely caring for patients], who is awake, immediately available and working a regular shift, instead of having to wake up an on-call physician in the middle of the night who needs to be at work in the morning," he said. "The tele-intensivist has access to the EMR and connects to see the patient via video technology. Nightly patient rounds are held with the tele-intensivist and ICU on-site provider, also via video conferencing."
4. The hospital is involved in a lawsuit with Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health.
Yale New Haven Health filed a lawsuit in May against Prospect to exit a deal to acquire Manchester Memorial Hospital and two others, alleging mismanagement of the facilities.
The proposed $435 million deal also includes Waterbury (Conn.) Hospital and Rockville General Hospital in Vernon, Conn.
5. Prospect was not immediately available for comment.
This story will be updated if more information becomes available.