Becker's Hospital Review

36 In the News S ome UPMC hospitals are banning the sale of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in their gi shops, a decision UPMC spokesman Paul Wood said was precipitated by "fairness issues" in the newspaper's coverage and portrayal of the Pittsburgh-based health system, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. At least three of the system's hospitals — UPMC Shadyside, UPMC Mercy and Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC — will no longer sell the newspaper. John Robinson Block, the publisher of the news- paper, defended the way it represents UPMC: "e Post-Gazette is edited without regard to any special interest, and our news columns are not for sale, at any price. We have been here since 1786, and have as our purpose the same goal that UPMC was established for — to serve the public's interest, not a narrow purpose.'' UPMC has canceled its advertising in the Post-Ga- zette, pointing to dissatisfaction with the way UPMC was covered in its news and portrayed in its editori- als and editorial cartoons. In recent years, the health system has most oen criticized the newspaper re- garding its coverage of the ongoing conflict with in- surer Highmark. Previously, it was the Post-Gazette's coverage of UPMC's real-estate holdings and busi- ness practices, according to the report. "We believe that our coverage of UPMC has been fair-minded in every respect," said David M. Shribman, executive editor of the Post-Gazette. "Every entity in every town feels aggrieved at some point by what a good newspaper writes. It's part of living in a free society where the exchange of news and information is prized, not punished.'' UPMC provided us with the following statement Mr. Wood gave during an interview with KDKA Radio: "You know, UPMC has always treated the Post-Gazette fairly over the years, and we've shared breaking news with them, we've granted exclusive interviews with our physicians and re- searchers and executives, we've worked with them hand in hand on some clinical stories. But I don't think any objective observer will say that PG has treated UPMC with the same level of fairness." Mr. Wood continued: "So, the PG can do whatever it wants. We support their right to do that 100 per- cent. ey can write whatever they want and have whatever opinion they want. All we're saying is we don't have to support it and we don't have to pay for it. We don't have to support the PG by advertising in it, we don't have to support it by helping them sell inaccurate and biased reporting in our hospitals." n UPMC Hospitals Prohibit Sale of Post-Gazette in Gift Shops How Quickly Will a Hospital Return a Call About the Price of an MRI? By Molly Gamble M ost Massachusetts hospital employees are "flum- moxed" by questions about price and take several days to get back to patients with answers despite a state law that requires answers within two business days, according to a new survey. e public policy think tank Pioneer Institute led the study, which involved phone calls to 22 of the state's 66 full-service hospitals about the charge or list price of a le-knee MRI. Barbara Anthony, senior fellow with Pioneer, said she and her col- laborator were transferred three to seven times. When they were referred to the hospital employee who did have the answer, this in- dividual rarely answered the phone immediately, which led to days of phone tag, according to the Boston Globe. e average wait for an answer was two to four business days, Ms. Anthony found. Sometimes she waited as many as six or seven. One community hospital south of Boston never provided a price, and only some hospitals shared information about the fee for an interpretation of the MRI for a realistic price. Hospital websites were of little help; less than a handful had pages dedicated to transparency and price inquiries. e law about price information is part of the state's landmark 2012 healthcare law but took effect in January 2014. n NJ Hospital Stripped of Property Tax Exemption By Ayla Ellison A tax court judge ruled June 26 that Morristown (NJ) Medical Center failed to satisfy the legal test that it operated as a nonprofit, charitable organization, and further held that the hospital should pay property taxes on nearly all of its property, according to an NJ.com report. New Jersey Tax Court Judge Vito Bianco ruled that Morristown Medical Cen- ter failed to operate as a nonprofit, charitable organization for tax years 2006 through 2008. Due to that finding, the judge ruled that the hospital should pay taxes on all of its property, with the exception of its auditorium, fitness center and visitors' garage. ere is a separate matter pending regarding Morristown Medical Center that could result in the hospital being ordered to pay property taxes for 2009 through 2015 as well. e decision cost the hospital between $2.5 million and $3 million per tax year. e ruling has caught the attention of other nonprofit organizations in New Jersey and Atlantic Health System, which operates Morristown Medical Center. An Atlantic Health spokesman, Rob Seman, released a statement saying, "Yes- terday's decision by Judge Bianco regarding property taxes is disappointing, and has serious consequences for both Morristown Medical Center as well as other healthcare systems in the state," according to the report. Judge Bianco made statements in his opinion about not only Morristown Med- ical Center but also about all nonprofit hospitals in the state. "If the property tax exemption for modern nonprofit hospitals is to exist at all in New Jersey go- ing forward, then it is a function of the legislature and not the court to promul- gate what the terms and conditions will be," Judge Bianco wrote in his opinion, according to the report. "Clearly, the operation and function of modern non- profit hospitals do not meet the current criteria for property tax exemption under…applicable case law." As of early July, Morristown Medical Center had not decided whether to appeal the decision. n

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