Becker's Hospital Review

24 CFO / FINANCE Develop a plan to curb costs or face fines, state commission tells Mass General Brigham By Alia Paavola B oston-based Mass General Brigham must develop a performance improve- ment plan to reduce costs aer the state's healthcare watchdog determined that the health system pushed healthcare spend- ing above acceptable levels throughout the last few years, according to a press release emailed to Becker's on Jan. 25. e Massachusetts Health Policy Commission found that Mass General Brigham had substan- tially higher-than-average commercial spend- ing from 2014-19. In total, the health system had $293 million in total spending across those years, which was more than any other provider. e commission said this high level of spending that stems from the system's expensive care has hurt the state's ability to control healthcare costs and meet the state's affordability benchmarks. Mass General Brigham has 45 days to file a proposed performance improvement plan to the commission or request a deadline exten- sion. e plan must contain specific cost-re- ducing steps, savings goals, process and out- come metrics, and a timeline. Failure to comply comes with a $500,000 fine, according to the commission's website. is is the first time the commission has re- quired a health system to submit a plan to lower costs since it started reviewing market transactions six years ago. "A performance improvement plan will give MBG the opportunity to directly address its spending trends in a publicly accountable way, and so doing help advance affordabil- ity for the residents of the commonwealth," David Seltz, executive director of the Health Policy Commission, told e Boston Globe. Mass General Brigham told the Globe that the commission didn't take into account the acuity of its patients. "e HPC was selective in its use of [data] that ignore the role of our academic health centers in treating the sickest and most complex pa- tients in the Commonwealth," Mass General Brigham said. "e HPC's refusal to acknowl- edge the acuity of our patients in its judgment of healthcare spending is short-sighted and unfair, especially to patients." n Prospect Medical Holdings goes on hospital divestiture spree By Ayla Ellison L os Angeles-based Prospect Medical Holdings has inked deals to sell its seven hospitals in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The company announced Feb. 10 that it is selling three Connecticut hospitals with a combined 708 beds to Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health System. The deal is expected to close later this year. If the deal is finalized, the hospitals will transition from for-profit to nonprofit organizations. Prospect Medical Holdings announced Feb. 11 that it is selling Crozer Health, a four-hospital system based in Springfield, Pa., to Newark, Del.-based Christi- anaCare. Under the deal, ChristianaCare would acquire Crozer's hospitals, medi- cal group, ambulatory centers and clinics. Crozer's hospitals have more than 800 beds combined. The deal with ChristianaCare was announced the same day Crozer got a new CEO. The health system appointed Kevin Spiegel, senior vice president of strategy and revenue development at Prospect, as its new CEO. He replaced Peter Adamo, who served in that role at Crozer for two years. Mr. Adamo's last day at Crozer was Feb. 11, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal. "The pandemic has demonstrated the vital importance of working together to meet the clinical needs of the communities we serve," Mr. Spiegel said in a Feb. 11 news release. "We are excited by the potential to join these two great organiza- tions so that we can continue to provide the high-quality, accessible care that our communities — Delaware County and beyond — rely on." The sale of the hospitals to ChristianaCare is expected to close in the second half of this year. If the deal is finalized, Crozer would become a nonprofit organization. n Northwestern Medicine purchases Hyatt hotel in Chicago By Marissa Plescia N orthwestern Memorial Ho- spital purchased the Hyatt Centric Hotel in Chicago in February to give patients and fam- ilies an option to stay overnight when receiving care, a health sys- tem spokesperson told Becker's Feb. 14. The hotel also will be used to host Northwestern Medicine confer- ences and events, the spokesper- son said. Hyatt Centric Hotel has 419 guest rooms, according to its website. It is located in Chicago's Streeterville neighborhood. n

• Cover