Judge Appoints New KPC Medical Management CEO, Approves $1.5M Plan
Criticizing KPC Medical Management's "slow pace in analyzing unread mammograms and laboratory tests and forwarding" former patients' medical records, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Barr on Tuesday appointed Franklin Stevens as the company's new CEO as part of a deal that will give the company $1.5 million from health plans to expedite the transfer process, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports. In approving the deal, Barr ordered that at least $200,000 be earmarked to complete pending medical tests instead of reimbursing KPC for money it already spent on such work. Barr said, "So far, it seems as though patients are getting very little attention." Last November, KPC "abruptly" closed 38 Southern California clinics, after accruing more than $300 million in debts in 16 months of operation. After the collapse, Barr had approved a $4.5 million closure deal funded by health plans to help KPC cover final paychecks, complete medical tests and transfer patient records to new doctors. The health plans maintain KPC "has dragged its feet" in getting patient data to the company that was hired to consolidate and transfer records, but KPC attorneys say that the $4.5 million "was never enough to cover all the closure costs" (Beeman, Riverside Press-Enterprise, 3/16).
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