Paradise Valley Hospital Retains Medicare Funding
Paradise Valley Hospital in National City has been notified by federal officials that it will continue to receive Medicare and Medi-Cal reimbursements after correcting problems that resulted in two failed inspections over the past eight months, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program.
Michelle Griffin of CMS told the hospital that it "demonstrated compliance" during the most recent federal inspection on March 29. The hospital failed its two previous inspections before it was sold on March 1 to Prime Healthcare Management.
Reimbursements for Medi-Cal and Medicare patients comprise 70% to 80% of the hospital's revenue.
Prem Reddy, chair of Prime, said, "Without Medicare and Medi-Cal, we would never be able to survive."
The hospital took several steps to comply with CMS regulations, including:
- Appointing new chiefs for five major aspects of the hospital's operations, including a medical director and heads of the cardiovascular and emergency departments;
- Hiring a full-time pharmacy director; and
- Hiring a director of medical records.
The hospital also signed contracts with physicians to treat ED patients who require surgical, obstetric, cardiology and other types of care. Officials also plan to sign a contract for UC-San Diego to manage the hospital's radiology services, which received a citation by CMS last year.
Reddy said Prime has reduced the hospital's monthly losses in half since taking over, from about $1.5 million in the first quarter of 2007 to $750,000 in March (Clark, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5/1). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.