Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/904318
53 HEALTHCARE NEWS Tenet CEO to Exit With $22.9M in Severance Pay By Ayla Ellison D allas-based Tenet Healthcare's longtime CEO Trevor Fetter received a $22.9 million sev- erance package when the company secures a new leader. Tenet announced in August it was replacing Mr. Fetter, who has led the 77-hospital chain since 2003. He will step down by March 15, 2018, or when Tenet appoints a successor, whichever occurs first. According to proxy materials filed earlier this year, Mr. Fetter was sched- uled to receive a $22.9 million sever- ance package when he leaves the com- pany. at amount includes: $10.85 million in cash payments; accelerated equity awards of $8.29 million; $3.74 in supplemental executive retirement plan and executive retirement account benefits; health and welfare benefits of $42,273; and $25,000 in outplacement services. In addition to replacing Mr. Fetter, Tenet has initiated a refreshment process for its board, which began with the appointment of Ronald A. Rittenmeyer as executive chairman. He previously served as indepen- dent lead director. Tenet announced the governance changes days aer board members Randy Simpson and Matt Ripperg- er resigned "due to irreconcilable differences regarding significant matters impacting Tenet and its stakeholders," the two jointly wrote in a letter to the board. Mr. Simpson and Mr. Ripperger are employed by Glenview Capital Management, a Tenet stakeholder. n Wisconsin Health System Blames Cerner Software for $16M in Losses By Ayla Ellison F ond Du Lac, Wis.-based Agne- sian Healthcare is suing Cerner, claiming issues with its revenue cycle management software caused the system to lose $16 million. In its complaint, filed Sept. 15, Agnesian alleges it began experiencing "pervasive errors" in patient billing immediately af- ter going live on Cerner's RCM system in August 2015. Agnesian says the prob- lems caused it to spend time and money to manually process patient billing state- ments ,and resulted in a significant back- log of patient claims for reimbursement. Although Cerner allegedly told Agne- sian officials in 2016 that all major issues with the billing software were resolved, Agnesian claims it discovered additional coding errors this year, which resulted in a large amount of undetected write-offs. Cerner then determined the billing soft- ware needed to be rebuilt. If Cerner is able to rebuild the soft- ware, Agnesian claims it will take "many months" for its billing and collections processes to return to normal. "In the in- terim, stale charges will be required to be written-off. Moreover, as a result of these flaws, Agnesian may not be able to meet federally-mandated billing require- ments," the lawsuit states. Agnesian is suing Cerner for breach of warranty, negligent misrepresentation and fraud. The health system claims it has suffered at least $16 million in damages due to the problems with the billing soft- ware and continues to suffer damages of at least $200,000 per month. In an emailed statement to the Kansas City Business Journal, a Cerner spokes- woman said the company "disagrees with the allegations and will aggressively de- fend the case." On Sept. 21, Cerner asked the court to dis- miss the case due to the existence of an arbi- tration agreement between the parties. If the court does not dismiss the lawsuit, Cerner requested the court transfer the case from U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin to U.S. District Court for the West- ern District of Missouri, which Cerner argues is the appropriate court to compel arbitration under the agreement with Agnesian. n Tennessee Hospital Closes After Falling 94% Short of GoFundMe Goal By Ayla Ellison Copper Basin Medical Center, a critical access hospital in Copperhill, Tenn., closed. Copper Basin Medical Center has been in a dire financial situation for months. The hos- pital suspended inpatient services May 9 and laid off more than 15 nurses, according to WRCB. Officials launched a GoFundMe page earlier this year to help keep the hospital afloat. They hoped to raise $100,000 through the campaign, but fell about 94 percent short of their goal. The week it closed, the hospital had received donations from 77 people, totaling $5,559. Copper Basin Medical Center is behind on its payroll, meaning some workers will be waiting for paychecks after they are laid off, hospital CEO Dan Johnson told WTVC. Regarding the closure, Mr. Johnson told WTVC, "We're a small, rural hospital and it's hard for us to adapt with all the changes in healthcare. We had no choice." n