Guardian article looks at high costs at Parkview Health
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An article published Thursday by international newspaper The Guardian takes a close look at practices by Fort Wayne-based Parkview Health that has led to some of the highest health care costs in the country.
The article says that for 10 of the past 13 years, Parkview hospitals have been among the top 10% most expensive on average, despite Fort Wayne being ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the most affordable place to live.
READ MORE: ‘Unlimited dollars’: how an Indiana hospital chain took over a region and jacked up prices
George Joseph, investigative reporter for The Guardian and co-author of the article, told our partners at WPTA-TV that Parkview was able to buy out its rival hospitals, allowing the health system to raise prices.
“They’ve been able to direct patient flows using referral patterns, in order to keep people in the system and according to our sources, direct them to potentially higher cost procedures and types of health care,” Joseph said.
Joseph said he noticed the vast presence Parkview has when he visited Fort Wayne. He also spoke with former and current Parkview employees, who noted they had witnessed the health system’s practices.
“A lot of people who formerly or currently work at Parkview, claim that they have been pushed to charge for small items, code things in ways that makes them feel uncomfortable, and generally try to seek out a lot of revenue from patients even in ways that they feel may be getting in the way of patient care,” he told WPTA.
Parkview did not respond to requests for comment from both The Guardian and WPTA.