QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER - FALL EDITION 2012 - #5
TWITTER WARS
The Effects of Social Media On the Hospital Communication Landscape Emergency Services & Senate Bill 1285 By Charles J. Acquisto, esq. Social media is not only changing how mainstream news is delivered, it is revolutionizing how hospitals interact with the public and empowers patients by giving them a platform to voice their concerns. Tech savvy patients understand the power of social media such as Twitter and Yelp! and are utilizing these channels in new ways to be heard and get results at warp speeds.
Default Reimbursement Gone Awry Hospitals benefit from Facebook as a solid source of peer recommendations, but also risk bad PR if not monitored properly. “If you see your Facebook friend posting praise on a hospital’s business page, you will definitely think about going to that hospital next time you need a medical procedure,” McNeil said.
Where the pen was once the mighty sword, the Internet now wields the power that has corporate CEO’s, especially in healthcare, fearing the power of a tweet.
Patients may be the biggest beneficiaries of this expanding social media phenomenon. McNeil said that educating the public on diseases and answering common health questions through social media is not only smart marketing, but may even keep a community healthier via social media education.
USA Today reported about an Arizona State University student Arijit Guha, 31, who was battling stage-4 colon cancer when he learned his student health insurance benefits had been exhausted with his bills quickly rising. Guha took to his Twitter account to relay his financial plight, while also launching his Poop Strong website to try and raise money to pay his mounting bills.
Kansas State University assistant profession Linda Yarrow, a registered and licensed dietitian, said more people are seeking health information from social media sites such as Facebook in order to get support and advice in addition to their professional medical care. When used correctly, social media websites may help patients stay motivated and accountable, Yarrow said.
“Gotta preserve that $2 billion annual profit somehow,” Guha tweeted.
Out of the 74 percent of adults who use the Internet, Yarrow noted that 80 percent have looked for health information online. In addition, 34 percent of adult Internet users have read online blogs or used social media to learn more about a medical issue or find support.
Guha’s Twitter feed ultimately caught the eye of AETNA CEO Mark T. Bertolini, who exchanged in a health debate with Guha on July 26 and 27. Guha’s Twitter power achieved an unexpected payoff of $118,000 when AETNA agreed to pick up all of his outstanding medical bills. According to Healthcaresource.com content manager Rebecca McNeil, hospital marketing departments and human resources departments are embracing social media like never before, especially Facebook and Twitter. “It’s a customer-service-driven industry,” McNeil said on a healthsource.com posting, “so these [social media] platforms are a great way to engage current and prospective patients.”
As social media continues to rapidly evolve, the informed providers and patients are spending worthwhile energy and resources into utilizing these communication giants to benefit the community and health care as a whole. Be sure to check out SAC’s Social Media Channels.
By Danielle M. Cantrell, Esq. A recently proposed law, Senate Bill (SB) 1285, establishes a default reimbursement scheme for emergency services provided by hospitals with significant out-of-network utilization rates. We believe that this bill will have a negative impact on hospitals, and would like to summarize what this legislation might mean for our provider clients. SB 1285 would amend California Health & Safety Code § 1371.4, requiring a hospital with an out-of-network emergency utilization rate, as defined, of 50% or more, to adjust its total billed charges for emergency services and care provided to a patient prior to stabilization, to an amount no greater than 150% of the amount the hospital could expect to receive from Medicare...” If the bill is enacted, it will diminish providers’ bottom lines by effectively eliminating their right to bill an out-of-network insured patient’s health plan for total billed charges for emergency services. Your friends at SAC and CHA are concerned that the bill would reduce access to emergency services as well as the incentive to contract. Additionally, the legislation is superfluous because most providers already have procedures in place to resolve rate disputes. After twenty-three years of representing providers, SAC still views the courts and alternative dispute resolution services as the most appropriate mechanisms to resolve disputes, not complicated legislation such as SB 1285. All our provider clients are encouraged to contact Sen. Hernandez through his website:http://sd24.senate.ca.gov/contact/ email, in addition to the state senate representatives in their local area to express their opposition to this potentially devastating legislation.