Steward accused of going to extremes to discourage referrals to other hospitals
Steward Health Care, the largest for-profit hospital operator in the U.S., is being sued by one of its urologists for allegedly exerting financial and professional pressure on physicians to only refer patients to other Steward hospitals or specialists.
According to the Boston Globe, plaintiff Stephen Zappala, MD, said the pressure went as far as Steward representatives calling his patients and telling them their operations had to be performed at Steward-owned facilities even if Zappala had referred them elsewhere. He also claimed Steward would cancel appointments his patients had scheduled at competitors like Lahey Hospital & Medical Center or Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
These efforts to stem “patient leakage” went beyond industry norms, Zappala alleged. When he continued to disobey edicts to keep patients within Steward facilities, he said the company disciplined him and eventually revoked his privileges to operate at Steward Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, Massachusetts.
“We’re going to find out that there were many doctors who succumbed to the pressure,’’ said Zappalla’s attorney, Lisa Arrowood.
Steward’s attorney, Callan Stein, argued Zappala was cited for legitimate lapses in patient care. As for policies discouraging outside referrals, Stein said those are legal and “extremely common” in the industry.
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.