In Depth: Top Dollar: Health Management Organizations Pressure Doctors To Ration Prescriptions
NBC ID: ART7HEM7JH | Production Unit: Nightly News | Media Type: Aired Show | Media ID: NY-NN-19980706-0001 | Air Date(s): 07/06/1998 | Event Date(s): 07/06/1998Transcript
Event Date(s): 07/06/1998 | Event Location(s): Fort Worth, Texas; | Description: Harris Methodist Health Plan member Cindy Ellis places a baby bottle on her child's high chair as three sons wait for breakfast in the family dining room. Cindy Ellis feeds son Nathan Ellis pills with fruit on a spoon. Cindy Ellis feeds son Ryan Ellis pills on a spoon with fruit. Prescription bottles sit on a counter in the foreground with the family eating at the dining room table in the background seen. In interview Cindy Ellis says her children need the medicine. Ellis physician Dr. Mike White examines Ryan's vision as Ryan and Nathan sit on an examing table in White's office. Close up on Nathan's face seen. White puts a prescription order form on a table as Cindy Ellis watches and Ryan empties a coin bank on the table. In interview White says he is being penalized for taking care of sick patients. White walks towards the camera in a hallway in his office. Ryan and Nathan play with toys in the office as Cindy Ellis watches over their shoulders. Close up on Cindy Ellis smiling seen. Panning shot of the exterior sign for the "Harris Methodist Fort Worth" hospital seen. Bottles of medicine on pharmacy shelves seen. A prescription order form comes out of a printer. White writes out a prescription as he stands in his office. A hand shakes pills from a bottle into a pill counter's funnel. Digital counter for the pill counter machine seen. A hand removes a tray of pills from the pill counter. Pills from the tray are emptied into a prescription bottle. A pharmacist carries pill bottles back to pharmacy shelves. NBC's Pat Dawson reports on camera on a city street. White stands behind a boy patient who sits on the examing table. A light is shone into the boy's opened mouth. In interview White says "If I do what's appropriate for the patient, I get penalized, If I do what's appropriate for the plan, the patient gets penalized." Low shot of White putting files into a cabinet. Graphic of a document from White and four other doctors who are suing the HMO with insert video of White filing records and insert super "inducement to limit medically necessary services" seen. Graphic of a court document about the suit with insert video of a female state judge and insert supers"...probably illegal...", and "Order on temporary injunction" seen. In interview Harris Methodist Health Plan's Dr. Robert Cluck says this is a way to try and control costs. Exterior of the Harris Methodist Fort Worth hospital seen. Empty hospital beds seen. In interview Cluck says they are trying to motivate physicians to deliver appropriate care with nothing extra. Dr. Kendra Belfi (ph), who recieved a settlement after suing the health plan, does paperwork at her office desk. In interview Belfi says she felt the policy was eroding her loyalty to patients. Belfi walks in a hospital hallway and opens a door. Graphic of a report from the HMO with title "Specific patients identified as high pharmacy utilizes (top ten patients) and a list of obscured names and dollar amounts of prescriptions seen. In interview Belfi says the reports made her dread seeing expensive patients. Mr. Ellis plays basketball with son Nathan in the family driveway. Ryan Ellis swings on a backyard swing. NBC's Pat Dawson signs off in voice over with no location given.