Becker's Hospital Review

8 CFO / FINANCE Kansas hospital loses Medicare billing privileges, may be forced to close By Ayla Ellison C MS terminated Overland Park, Kan.- based Blue Valley Hospital's Medicare contract in April, and the hospital faced another setback when a federal judge ruled she did not have jurisdiction to hear the hospital's case against HHS and CMS chal- lenging the Medicare termination decision, according to KCUR. Here are six things to know: 1. Under rules enacted in September 2017, a healthcare facility must average at least two inpatients per day and an at least two- night average length of stay to be considered an inpatient hospital for Medicare reim- bursement. Facilities that fall short of these requirements may instead be considered same-day surgery centers, which have differ- ent reimbursement rates. 2. CMS said Blue Valley Hospital doesn't meet the new federal requirements for Medicare participation. A survey by state health offi- cials in November found Blue Valley Hospi- tal did not have any inpatients at that time, and a subsequent report showed the hospital performed about 309 outpatient surgeries, compared with 146 inpatient surgeries over a yearlong period. 3. Blue Valley Hospital officials acknowledged that the hospital fell short of the two-night av- erage stay requirement, but they say the new federal requirements are arbitrary. "is ac- tion taken by CMS was not related to any pa- tient safety or quality of care issue, but results from CMS' change in the definition of hospi- tal under the Code of Federal Regulations," Blue Valley Hospital CEO D. Chris Dixon told e Kansas City Star in April. 4. e hospital sued HHS and CMS in feder- al court, claiming many of its patients have an expected length of stay of two nights, but they are able to go home earlier than expect- ed due to the high-quality care they receive at the hospital. "CMS' new criteria suggests that hospitals should keep patients longer than necessary just to meet arbitrary CMS require- ments, which is against public policy," the lawsuit states. 5. e hospital retained its Medicare billing privileges until a federal judge ruled she did not have jurisdiction to hear the case. Blue Valley Hospital immediately appealed the de- cision, according to KCUR. 6. Blue Valley Hospital is open and accepting patients. However, the hospital may be forced to shut down without Medicare funding, ac- cording to KCUR. n Georgia hospital closes By Ayla Ellison C hestatee Regional Hospital in Dahlone- ga, Ga., closed July 27, and a local ur- gent care center is expanding its hours to help care for patients in the community, ac- cording to The Gainesville Times. On March 30, Gainesville-based Northeast Georgia Health System announced it reached a conditional agreement with DL Investment Holdings to buy Chestatee Regional Hospital. Under the agreement, the current owner would close Chestatee Regional and sell the property to NGHS. NGHS then intends to sell the proper- ty to the Georgia Board of Regents. According to a Worker Adjustment and Retrain- ing Notification Act notice filed with the state, the hospital closure affects 141 employees. To prepare for an influx of patients due to the closure, Urgent Care Dahlonega expanded its hours of operation beginning July 1. "We anticipate seeing more people coming in for care after work and when accidents happen later in the evening, and our staff is prepared to care for them," said Tammy Soles, administra- tive director of Urgent Care Dahlonega. n Bankrupt Miami hospital fetches $30M bid By Ayla Ellison T he Miami Medical Center filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy pro- tection in March, and the 67-bed hospital was sold in auction in June. Leawood, Kan.-based Nueterra, along with its partners, acquired Mi- ami Medical Center in 2014 and invested $70 million in the facility. Children's Health Ventures, the for-profit arm of Miami-based Nicklaus Children's Hospital, invested in Miami Medical Center with hopes of bringing a unique care model to South Florida. However, the Miami Medical Center struggled to stay afloat. The hospital suspended patient services Oct. 30, 2017, and subse- quently laid off its 180 employees. It filed for bankruptcy protection March 9, 2018. Miami Medical Center was sold in auction in early June. The hospital received one $30 million credit bid from Variety Children's Hospital in Miami, an affiliate of Nicklaus Children's Hospital. The bid was based on the amount the hospital owed Nicklaus Children's Hospital, accord- ing to the South Florida Business Journal. Under the deal, which a bankruptcy judge approved June 25, Variety Children's Hospital will contribute $1.8 million to the debtor's estate to be divided between Miami Medical Center's other creditors. Variety Children's Hospital has not disclosed when it intends to reopen the facility. n

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