In fact, the Lown Institute Hospitals Index found that hospitals in Illinois have a “fair share deficit” of $1.244 billion dollars in aggregate. In other words, nonprofit hospitals in Illinois received a whopping $1.244 billion more in tax breaks than they spent on charity care for low-income patients and community benefits. More
Meet the new Lown Institute board members! More
An investigation from Kaiser Health News shows that a large proportion of hospitals engage in aggressive practices to recoup medical debt. Is your hospital one of them? More
Join host Stacey Richter as she interviews Lown experts Dr. Vikas Saini and Judith Garber on the surprising reality of hospital charity care spending. More
Hospitals are starting to be held accountable for their community benefit spending -- how are they responding? We explore some cases in recent news. More
To understand the impacts of social determinants of health, bioethics, and the history of this country, one must also understand the overlap of intersectional identities. More
“It's not uncommon for Medicaid expansion to result in a reduction in charity care spending, but that doesn't mean it's justified,” said Aaron Toleos, vice president of communications for the Lown Institute. For example, Fauquier Hospital could consider expanding its financial-aid policy to include more people struggling to pay their hospital bills or even funnel money that had been used for charity care into programs to address homelessness, food insecurity or addiction treatment, Toleos said. More
Firearm violence is an ever-present concern, and Black Americans are disproportionately subjected to it. How does this impact the clinicians caring for victims, who must deal with the trauma and injustice daily? More
Can hospitals advance patient safety in a profit-driven system? A recent study identifies persistent rates of adverse events in hospitals. More
The explosive growth worries Vikas Saini, a cardiologist and president of the Lown Institute, a think tank that examines quality, cost, and equity across health care. He said doctors are prescribing proton therapy in a gray area — they think it may be better for a patient than the cheaper alternative, but there’s no hard proof.
“Everybody knows the game: You get an approval, and you go out on the market, then you expand the indications,” Saini said. “It’s called indication creep, or scope creep.”
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A faulty algorithm has led to racial inequities in kidney care for years. Now, the movement to eliminate it has gained traction. Could this be a step towards a more equitable system? More
How can we hold hospitals accountable for their community benefit spending? At a recent webinar hosted by Community Catalyst, Lown leaders discussed measuring hospital community investment and opportunities for advocacy. More
Hospitals are facing persistent staffing issues and many are in poor financial shape....but their CEOs keep getting bonuses. Could pay equity be the solution that stabilizes our hospitals? More
An investigation of one Alzheimer's Disease drug and the approval of another offer lessons on accountability and evidence for new drug approvals. More
"If we're ever going to get to the great health system that Americans deserve, we have to call out bad behavior," Vikas Saini, MD, president of the Lown Institute, said. "The Shkreli Awards are a mirror that's hard to look into, but we've got to do it." More
Last week, we hosted the 6th annual Shkreli Awards, calling out the worst profiteers and dysfunction in the healthcare system in 2022. In a perfect world, these awards wouldn’t be necessary. In our world, we have a plethora of candidates to consider. More
“If we’re ever going to get to the great health system that Americans deserve, we have to call out bad behavior,” Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute, said in a statement. “The Shkreli Awards are a mirror that’s hard to look into, but we’ve got to do it.” More
Lown Institute president Vikas Saini, MD, told MedPage Today that this year's list reads like "a tragic comedy of grift and profiteering." If the actions of these companies and individuals seem to be worse than in past years, Saini said that's because governmental agencies and media organizations appear to be "more vigilant in calling out bad actors." More
A new series of articles on healthcare segregation provides a call to action and a way forward for all actors in the healthcare system looking to improve racial and economic equity More