Becker's ASC Review

104 HEALTHCARE NEWS 104 Nurses sue staffing agency, allege they were made to choose pay cut or job loss By Kelly Gooch T hree nurses have filed a lawsuit alleging that staffing company Maxim Healthcare Services defrauded them through a "take-it- or-leave-it" strategy that forced them to accept less pay or lose their jobs, Law360 reported Aug. 1. Carolyn Miller, Teayl Miller and Jennifer Reents filed the class-action complaint July 29 in federal court in Maryland. e nurses, who said they accepted travel assignments through Columbia, Md.-based Maxim to work at healthcare facilities in Wisconsin, Nebraska and California, allege that aer they had executed Maxim's form travel assignment, the company demanded they take a pay cut or be terminated. In one instance, Maxim demanded Carolyn Miller accept an approximately 28 percent base hourly pay rate cut, from $125 to $90, to finish the previously agreed- upon assignment, the lawsuit said. "Maxim is offering contracts to travel nurses with a fixed-term assignment at an agreed-upon pay rate. Aer the nurse accepts the position and starts the assignment, Maxim makes a 'take-it-or- leave-it' demand to accept less pay or be terminated," the lawsuit said. "Of course, most nurses have no choice but continue working the assignment at the lower rate because they have no reasonable alternatives for comparable employment: they have already incurred travel expenses, secured short-term housing and uprooted their lives to accept the assignment." e nurses allege breach of contract and contend Maxim is "knowingly engaging in these 'bait-and-switch' practices to maintain the significant profit margins it had become accustomed to during the COVID-19 pandemic." ey also allege Maxim is violating the Fair Labor Standards Act by underpaying travel workers for overtime hours worked. In a statement shared with Becker's, Maxim said: "It is our general practice not to discuss pending legal matters. e organization has partnered with healthcare providers and professionals for more than three decades and has a well-established track record of supporting and connecting healthcare professionals to work that matters." e lawsuit seeks compensatory, consequential, general, nominal, statutory, and punitive or exemplary damages. n Physicians see spike in misbehavior, report says By Patsy Newitt F orty-one percent of physicians have seen other physicians behave inappropriately in the workplace in 2022 compared to 35 percent in 2021, according to Medscape's 2022 report "Physicians Behaving Badly." Medscape surveyed more than 1,500 physicians about physician misbehavior and what they've experienced in recent years. Examples of inappropriate behavior in the report included unprofessional or disrespectful behavior toward patients or colleagues, disregard for patient privacy, angry or aggressive acts and lawbreaking. Here are three more stats: 1. Thirty percent of physicians have seen other physicians behave inappropriately on social media, compared to 26 percent in 2021. 2. Twenty-six percent of physicians have seen other physicians perform inappropriately outside of the workplace, the same percentage as 2021. 3. Thirty-eight percent of physicians have not seen other physicians behave inappropriately, compared to 44 percent in 2022. n AI funding in healthcare through the years By Naomi Diaz A rtificial intelligence funding in healthcare is skyrocketing with more than $3 billion poured into the sector in the first half of 2022 and nearly $10 billion in 2021, Politico reported Aug. 15. Healthcare AI funding throughout the years: • 2011: $129.3 million • 2012: $103.4 million • 2013: $167.8 million • 2014: $598.7 million • 2015: $575.2 million • 2016: $993.2 million • 2017: $1.1 billion • 2018: $2.5 billion • 2019: $2.4 billion • 2020: $4.8 billion • 2021: $10 billion • First half of 2022: $3 billion According to Politico, the tech industry's continued investment in AI is because of the enthusiasm surrounding the potential of the technology to transform healthcare. n

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