Evanston, Ill.-based Endeavor Health, formerly known as NorthShore – Edward-Elmhurst Health, has agreed to pay a $55 million all-cash settlement to resolve antitrust allegations raised after NorthShore's acquisition of Highland Park Hospital in 2000.
Plaintiffs in the consumer class-action suit, which was initially filed 16 years ago, alleged that the hospital had violated antitrust laws by abusing its market power and charging inflated prices for healthcare services, according to court documents filed Jan. 17.
The case followed a 2008 order by the Federal Trade Commission that aimed to "restore the competition that was lost" when NorthShore acquired Highland Park Hospital.
The FTC's remedy required the health system to establish independent negotiating teams "to allow [managed care organizations] to negotiate separately again for those competing hospitals, thus reinjecting competition between them for the business of MCOs."
Among other things, the commission ordered NorthShore, then known as Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Corporation, to:
- Establish separate negotiating teams for inpatient and outpatient services at Evanston and Highland Park Hospital.
- Require Evanston to use separate negotiations as its status quo approach to negotiations with payers — unless a payer specifically elected to opt out and negotiate for all the health system's hospitals jointly.
- Prohibit the Evanston and Highland Park Hospital negotiating teams from engaging in the negotiations when a payer elects to negotiate jointly for all of the system's hospitals.
The $55 million settlement to resolve the alleged anticompetitive claims in the consumer class-action suit is subject to court approval and is not an admission of any wrongdoing by Endeavor.
"We are proud of the integral role Highland Park Hospital plays in its surrounding community and the contributions we have been able to make as part of our health system," a spokesperson for Endeavor said in a statement shared with Becker's. "The resolution of this matter allows us to continue focusing on providing exceptional care and a safe, seamless and personal experience for those we are privileged to serve."
Endeavor is the third-largest health system in Illinois with annual revenues of $5.3 billion. Its nine hospitals are Edward (Naperville), Elmhurst, Evanston, Glenbrook (Glenview), Highland Park, Northwest Community (Arlington Heights), Skokie, Swedish (Chicago), and Linden Oaks Behavioral Health Hospital (Naperville).