The new documentary, The Healthcare Divide, discusses how hospitals serving low-income communities are struggling to survive, while profits at other hospital chains are booming. In particular, the documentary examines how Medicaid reimbursements have worsened the divide and the growth of hospital chains has created new struggles for safety-net facilities.
“I think we’re on the brink of a precipice,” Bruce Siegel, MD, president and CEO of America’s Essential Hospitals, said during the documentary. “Even before the pandemic, many of these [safety-net] hospitals were losing money, and the pandemic is only going to make that worse.”
In the documentary, leaders from safety-net facilities across the country discuss the growing profit divide and struggles firsthand.
“Unless there’s a substantive change in the way safety nets are funded, things are simply going to keep going in the direction they are, which is a great disparity in how patients are taken care of,” Chris Young, MD, chief of the medical staff at Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Erlanger, a safety-net hospital, said in the documentary. “That divide is only going to grow.”
The documentary, from Frontline, NPR and American University’s Investigative Reporting Workshop, airs May 18.
At the Becker's 11th Annual IT + Revenue Cycle Conference: The Future of AI & Digital Health, taking place September 14–17 in Chicago, healthcare executives and digital leaders from across the country will come together to explore how AI, interoperability, cybersecurity, and revenue cycle innovation are transforming care delivery, strengthening financial performance, and driving the next era of digital health. Apply for complimentary registration now.
