Business

You callin' me cheap? Thanks, Pardee says

By Bill Moss, Published: March 6, 2014

Alan House, the chief financial officer for Pardee Hospital, stood in front of a screen filled with logos of raters that had recognized the hospital for quality, safety and patient satisfaction: Consumer Reports magazine, the Leap Frog Group, Women's Choice, Health Grades and others.

House was there to celebrate the newest measure. It said Pardee is cheap, too.
"The holy grail in health care is being recognized as high quality and low cost," House told the Pardee Board of Directors last week. "In addition to all of our high quality, you're going to start hearing a lot more about price."
That's because the Affordable Care Act requires cost accountability, federal and state laws are demanding transparency in pricing, and insurers are rewarding low-cost providers by putting more patients into their beds.
Pardee's low-cost rating came from NerdWallet.com, a personal finance website. The study ranked Pardee as the sixth most affordable hospital in North Carolina. UNC, Hospitals, which manages Pardee under an agreement with the hospital board and county commissioners, was ninth most affordable, the best ranking among the state's largest hospitals. Another N.C. mountains provider, MedWest-Haywood in Clyde, ranked fifth.
The NerdWallet study surveyed hospitals that offered the most affordable treatments and also measured patient satisfaction.
House also told the Pardee board that the hospital had bounced back somewhat in January from a bad first quarter financially. He attributed the improved numbers to more in-patient admissions and surgeries, tight expense control and greater productivity. Snow days in February, however, could erode income from day surgeries and urgent care, he said.