Tennessee Agency Criticized for Giving High Marks to Ballad Health Despite Poor Performance
Ballad Health, a 20-hospital system in Tennessee and Virginia, has come under scrutiny for consistently falling short of performance targets set by the state while receiving top grades from the Tennessee Department of Health. The state’s scoring rubric largely ignores the actual quality of care provided by Ballad hospitals, with only 5% of their final score based on performance. Despite failing to meet goals in areas such as surgery complications and patient satisfaction, Ballad has faced no penalties.
Residents like Ron Allgood have expressed frustration over the lack of accountability, with Allgood sharing his experience of waiting three hours in a Ballad ER with chest pains before receiving care. Critics argue that the monopoly created by the merger of two hospital companies to form Ballad Health has left residents with limited options for hospital care, leading to decreased quality in services.
Larry Fitzgerald, a former monitor of Ballad for the Tennessee government, has called for changes to the scoring rubric, likening Ballad’s current grading system to a student getting free points for any answer on a test. Despite reports showing that Ballad has consistently failed to meet baseline values on quality measures, the Tennessee Department of Health has continued to give Ballad high scores, with the most recent report awarding the company 93.6 out of 100 possible points.
The Federal Trade Commission has warned that hospital monopolies like Ballad can result in increased prices and decreased quality of care. Officials required Ballad to agree to extensive regulation in order to offset the risks of the company’s monopoly. However, Ballad has continued to struggle with meeting quality measures, such as long wait times in the ER, without facing any consequences. Critics and former officials argue that the state’s scoring of Ballad Health is flawed and fails to hold the hospital system accountable for its poor performance.
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