Monterey, CA Hospital CEO Pay Not Correlated With Patient Outcome Based On Harvard Study Of Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services Data

Monterey, CA  Hospital CEO Pay Not Correlated With Patient Outcome Based On Harvard Study Of Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services Data : View From A Nonprofit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

The term non-profit is often used to describe companies doing good for others, staffed by volunteers or workers paid at the low end of the salary spectrum.  Unfortunately, this isn't always the case.  A recent study found that CEOs at nonprofit hospitals made, on average, $600,000 per year and some made as much as $3 million per year.  The report, which looked at data put out by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services did find that highly paid CEOs ran hospitals with high patient satisfaction scores.  However, they did not get high scores for patient outcomes.  That's unfortunate.  The results of the study were called "a little disappointing," by Ashish Jha, a health policy professor of Harvard's School of Public Health.  He said that not holding CEO's accountable for whether patients live or die within 30 days of treatment "doesn't quite make sense."  I agree.  At the end of the day, the ultimate measurement for hospitals should be how patients fare after treatment compared to other hospitals across the country. 

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.