SanStone Health and Rehabilitation, if you look them up on Medicare.gov they operated and managed by by Ardent Health and Rehabilitation. The strange thing is Ardent Health and Rehabilitation doesn't seem to own or operate any health and rehabilitation facilities. Why do they need two different names for one company?
The only Ardent on the Securities and Exchange website is Ardent Health Services, located in Nashville Tennessee. Ardent Health Services operates 11 Pharmacies in New Mexico, and fourteen Hospitals including, Baptist St. Anthonies Health Systems in Amarillo Texas, Hillcrest Healthcare systems in Tulsa Oklahoma, and Lovelace Healthcare Systems in Albuquerque N.M..
One would think that the name Ardent would be protected from use by other companies, especially in the health care field. Either Ardent Health and Rehabilitation is part of Ardent Health Services, or the name is not protected. Why does a company in Tennessee own and operate hospitals and pharmacies out West, but nothing locally?
This is an example of why the regulatory agencies are having a hard time keeping up with who is who. Add to that the fact that politicians are constantly cutting the budgets of enforcement agencies to protect their own investments, and you have a perfect example of what is wrong with the system.
Then there are the government contractors that are supposed to insure integrity of the system. How does a company that is competing for the contracts maintain their own integrity? Obviously they are not going to aggressively pursue the very people they work for! Is it a coincidence that Advancemed, the Government contracted Zone Program Integrity Contractor (ZPIC) for Medicare is cant see any fraud?
Next you have on site pharmacy consultants working for one pharmacy, is that not a monopoly. I'm pretty sure the consultants wouldn't be able to keep their jobs filling prescriptions for other pharmacies.
In the case of Hendersonville Health and rehabilitation, the on site pharmacist works for Blue Ridge Pharmacy. The owner of Blue Ridge Pharmacy is part owner of Hendersonville Physicians and Associates, who own Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation. He is also supervised by two physicians, Dr. Larry J. Russell, Mom's doctor at HHR and Donald L. Culver, who wrote a lot of prescriptions at BeyStone. I overheard one of their reps one day pushing a refill program on a patient at HHR, they went so far as to offer gifts.
I have suspected for some time that Blue Ridge Pharmacy was filling all the prescriptions at all the nursing homes in Hendersonville. I had seen them at HHR and BeyStone, yesterday I saw them on the road and followed them to the Laurels. It just so happens that Dr. Russell is the medical director at The Laurels as well as the supervisor of the owner of Blue Ridge Pharmacy. Is this not a violation of some sort of antitrust law, if not it should be. This is where the politicians are helping them out, changing regulations to make it easy for them to get away with it.
The system is not working, you have one group providing every aspect of nursing home care. I am pretty sure they are also providing the DME's, I just cant prove it yet. There is also one mobile Xray company that seems to be doing all the xrays at the homes. Carol Lloyd Inc. also MMDS is likely the sole provider of mobile Xrays and diagnostics for this particular group. I'm sure there is plenty of "gift" giving in this huge circle of "friends". I'm sure they have each spent the night at one of Dr.Russells lake house or cabin in Gatlinburg.
I would be interested if anyone reading this knows where else Blue Ridge Pharmacy delivers to, you could just leave a comment. More to come.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
If Pat McCrory, the Governor of NC doesn't care, where else do you go?
The last several posts were focused on SanStone and their so called "passion that makes us different" campaign. I am still seeing those damn commercials, but it's time to focus a little on the government agencies that oversee the medical industry.
The first complaint I made was to the North Carolina Department of Health Service Regulation. My brother and I made separate complaints with somewhat different issues. The people taking the complaint on the phone seem very concerned , and indicate a willingness to help. They are the only ones in the NCDHSR that show anything other than a sympathetic stand on the side of the nursing home.
After the complaint investigation of Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation found no deficiencies, we were able to meet with the Western Regional Director, Gail Maloney. Sometime in late February of 2011, several family members met with Ms. Maloney at the Black Mountain office. We were armed with a signed statement from Mom's roommate that disputed the nurses account of the fall. Along with that we had gone through Mom's medical records and had so many discrepancies that we were sure to get results. There was missing medication, and medication records, wrong room numbers and outright false records. Surprisingly at the time Ms. Maloney saw nothing in our stack of papers that was wrong. Ms. Maloney went on to say that there was no one else above them and that there decision would be the last word.
In the meantime I had filed a complaint with the N.C Medical Board against Dr. Larry J. Russell. I alleged that he had not done his job, by not examining Mom after the fall. This was a big issue because of the fact that she had undergone brain surgery only six weeks before. Also the fact that although she had "met her goals" and was scheduled to go home, she died from no apparent reason. Dr. Russell found no reason for an autopsy, so none was done. I wonder if this could be attributed to the fact that he was one of the owners of Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation ? Of course the N.C Medical board found on reason to even warn Dr. Russell, and went so far as to tell me they would retain these records in the event that they received any further complaints against Dr. Russell. I know for a fact that at least one other person filed a complaint with the NC Medical Board against Dr. Russell, and still no action. This person contacted me from a number on my blog last year.
Next step was a complaint with the NC Board of Nursing filed against Lara Mooney LPN and Susan Habel RN ( the director of nursing at Hendersonville Health and rehabilitation). I received a letter stating that Lara Mooney LPN was "strongly cautioned" but no explanation of what she was cautioned for. It seemed strange that although they found no wrongdoing, Lara Mooney was "strongly cautioned" for something. Several calls and emails later I was eventually directed to the boards attorney for any further questions I had!
Next step was a two hour meeting with an FBI agent in Asheville. Although he was not familiar with health care regulations, he saw plenty of things wrong with what we showed him. He was very pleasant and we thought we were finally going to get someone to actually look at Mom's case. Our relationship lasted for two years and we met one other time with two agents. The outcome of this is still unknown at this point.
You would think that would be the end of it, but not the case. I also contacted my Congressman (Heath Shuler) and he passed our information on to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Atlanta. The contact there sent a letter stating that CMS applauded concerned citizens, and they would do a thorough investigation. The letter said they would also be forwarding our concerns to several different places. I never heard from them again, so I contacted the Congressman's office, who contacted CMS. Turns out that somehow our information never made it off the contacts desk.
I think that by now it is obvious that I am persistent. I have also contacted the CCME (Carolina's Center for Medical Excellence), NC State Medical Examiners office, NC Pharmacy Board , ABC News, the Office of Inspector General, three Senators and NCI Advancemed, the Zoze Program Integrity Contractor for Medicare. My brother has requested information from Advancemed two years ago through the Freedom of Information Act, and still has not received a response.
The bottom line is that not one of these contacts led anywhere. The attitude we have gotten could only be described as hostile and uninterested. I have also written to Governor Pat McCrory, and Aldona Wos ( Secretary of the NCDHHS)
The branch of government that actually investigates fraud, and any broken laws, is the Office of Inspector General (OIG). They are actually a division of law enforcement. The OIG has more work than they can handle. there are so many crooked nursing home owners , the OIG cant keep up. The owners keep changing names and hiding behind several shell corporations. It would be a full time job just to know who owns what on which day.
Then you have people in high places that are owners of the homes. It is not surprising that the laws are tilted to the favor of the homes. There have been law suits that were won, and they cant figure out where to collect the settlement. The whole system needs a serious revamping.
With the current level of political contributions not being regulated, the rich owners of nursing homes can buy just about any politician they want. I'm not sure what they contributed to Governor Pat McCrory, but it was definitely enough to get him to turn his head. He went so far as to refuse Medicaid money for some reason. Could it be that Governor McCrory has something going in North Carolina that he doesn't want someone to know about? I am relatively certain that Governor McCrory's parents would never be caught dead ( pun intended ) in one of the local nursing homes.
The first complaint I made was to the North Carolina Department of Health Service Regulation. My brother and I made separate complaints with somewhat different issues. The people taking the complaint on the phone seem very concerned , and indicate a willingness to help. They are the only ones in the NCDHSR that show anything other than a sympathetic stand on the side of the nursing home.
After the complaint investigation of Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation found no deficiencies, we were able to meet with the Western Regional Director, Gail Maloney. Sometime in late February of 2011, several family members met with Ms. Maloney at the Black Mountain office. We were armed with a signed statement from Mom's roommate that disputed the nurses account of the fall. Along with that we had gone through Mom's medical records and had so many discrepancies that we were sure to get results. There was missing medication, and medication records, wrong room numbers and outright false records. Surprisingly at the time Ms. Maloney saw nothing in our stack of papers that was wrong. Ms. Maloney went on to say that there was no one else above them and that there decision would be the last word.
In the meantime I had filed a complaint with the N.C Medical Board against Dr. Larry J. Russell. I alleged that he had not done his job, by not examining Mom after the fall. This was a big issue because of the fact that she had undergone brain surgery only six weeks before. Also the fact that although she had "met her goals" and was scheduled to go home, she died from no apparent reason. Dr. Russell found no reason for an autopsy, so none was done. I wonder if this could be attributed to the fact that he was one of the owners of Hendersonville Health and Rehabilitation ? Of course the N.C Medical board found on reason to even warn Dr. Russell, and went so far as to tell me they would retain these records in the event that they received any further complaints against Dr. Russell. I know for a fact that at least one other person filed a complaint with the NC Medical Board against Dr. Russell, and still no action. This person contacted me from a number on my blog last year.
Next step was a complaint with the NC Board of Nursing filed against Lara Mooney LPN and Susan Habel RN ( the director of nursing at Hendersonville Health and rehabilitation). I received a letter stating that Lara Mooney LPN was "strongly cautioned" but no explanation of what she was cautioned for. It seemed strange that although they found no wrongdoing, Lara Mooney was "strongly cautioned" for something. Several calls and emails later I was eventually directed to the boards attorney for any further questions I had!
Next step was a two hour meeting with an FBI agent in Asheville. Although he was not familiar with health care regulations, he saw plenty of things wrong with what we showed him. He was very pleasant and we thought we were finally going to get someone to actually look at Mom's case. Our relationship lasted for two years and we met one other time with two agents. The outcome of this is still unknown at this point.
You would think that would be the end of it, but not the case. I also contacted my Congressman (Heath Shuler) and he passed our information on to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Atlanta. The contact there sent a letter stating that CMS applauded concerned citizens, and they would do a thorough investigation. The letter said they would also be forwarding our concerns to several different places. I never heard from them again, so I contacted the Congressman's office, who contacted CMS. Turns out that somehow our information never made it off the contacts desk.
I think that by now it is obvious that I am persistent. I have also contacted the CCME (Carolina's Center for Medical Excellence), NC State Medical Examiners office, NC Pharmacy Board , ABC News, the Office of Inspector General, three Senators and NCI Advancemed, the Zoze Program Integrity Contractor for Medicare. My brother has requested information from Advancemed two years ago through the Freedom of Information Act, and still has not received a response.
The bottom line is that not one of these contacts led anywhere. The attitude we have gotten could only be described as hostile and uninterested. I have also written to Governor Pat McCrory, and Aldona Wos ( Secretary of the NCDHHS)
The branch of government that actually investigates fraud, and any broken laws, is the Office of Inspector General (OIG). They are actually a division of law enforcement. The OIG has more work than they can handle. there are so many crooked nursing home owners , the OIG cant keep up. The owners keep changing names and hiding behind several shell corporations. It would be a full time job just to know who owns what on which day.
Then you have people in high places that are owners of the homes. It is not surprising that the laws are tilted to the favor of the homes. There have been law suits that were won, and they cant figure out where to collect the settlement. The whole system needs a serious revamping.
With the current level of political contributions not being regulated, the rich owners of nursing homes can buy just about any politician they want. I'm not sure what they contributed to Governor Pat McCrory, but it was definitely enough to get him to turn his head. He went so far as to refuse Medicaid money for some reason. Could it be that Governor McCrory has something going in North Carolina that he doesn't want someone to know about? I am relatively certain that Governor McCrory's parents would never be caught dead ( pun intended ) in one of the local nursing homes.
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