PRESS RELEASE: Healthcare’s biggest baddies named and blamed in 2022 Shkreli Awards
From massive insurance fraud to a dentist that intentionally broke patients’ teeth, here are this year’s worst examples of greed and dysfunction in healthcare. More
Blog
21 health systems with smallest CEO-to-worker pay ratios
Amid a wave of intensified criticism of hospital CEO pay at large, one source continues to pay close attention to the ratio of executive compensation to worker wages at more than 300 health systems. That source is Lown Institute, a nonpartisan think tank that measures hospitals' and health systems' social responsibility through 53 metrics related to inclusivity, pay equity, community benefit, care value and outcomes. More
Community power: A missing piece for health policy
Can community empowerment solve persistent population health disparities that other strategies have failed to fix? More
How a Sprawling Hospital Chain Ignited Its Own Staffing Crisis
Because of its nonprofit status, Ascension avoids more than $1 billion a year in federal, state and local taxes, according to the Lown Institute, a health care think tank. Until the pandemic, Ascension was consistently profitable, earning hundreds of millions a year. More
Hospital policies that exacerbate the staffing crisis
While the pandemic was a breaking point for many healthcare workers, some hospital systems were cutting staff well before 2020... More
Price transparency comes to the insurance market…but there’s a catch
Insurers are required to publish their negotiated prices for all services. The problem is, there's too much data... More
Where have all the nurses gone?
After enduring years of stressful and heartbreaking work through the Covid-19 pandemic, healthcare workers are quitting in droves. What can we do about the healthcare staffing crisis? More
Viewpoint: Closing pediatric units is short-sighted and reflects a broken system
While hospital systems focus on more lucrative adult care operations, often sacrificing pediatric care in the process, the consequences of such decisions are often ignored, Brenna Miller, a health communications specialist at think tank the Lown Institute, wrote on its site Dec. 5. More
Hospitals criticized for ‘low-value’ procedures
The Lown Institute of Needham has long argued that hospitals perform way too many procedures it has identified as being low-value, meaning they offer little to no clinical benefit to patients and, in many cases, are more likely to harm them than help them. More
How some hospitals put up barriers to financial assistance
It's the time of year where most of us are getting into the "giving spirit." But recent investigations show that some hospitals are instead putting up obstacles to financial assistance. More
Pediatrics and profits: Why children’s hospital units are closing
Pediatric units are closing across the country, leaving parents and their sick kids without easy access to healthcare. Why is this happening, and what are the long-term consequences? More
Nine NYC hospitals received $1.2 billion in tax breaks, invested less than half in community: report
The Lown Institute calls for greater transparency and accountability. More
Power to the People: How a single tweet could reignite a movement
With $8 and 9 words, one internet troll is forcing insulin manufacturers to answer the question of why the drug is so unaffordable More
The “S” in ESG: How hospitals are embracing social responsibility
Which hospitals are walking the talk on social responsibility? A new feature in Frontiers of Health Services Management showcases the Lown Index and winning hospitals. More
Tax exemptions exceed community-benefit spending for nine local hospitals, report finds
Nine city hospitals have spent millions of dollars less on community investments than they receive in tax breaks, according to a report released this week by the Lown Institute, a nonprofit health care think tank. More
NYC Hospitals are falling short in their community investments, report claims
A new report from the Lown Institute—a healthcare think tank—suggests that New York City hospitals have not been holding up their end of the bargain when it comes to local tax breaks and community investment. The study looked at 21 hospitals and found that "nine have a Fair Share deficit—meaning that the value of their community investments fails to equal the value of their federal, state, and local tax breaks." The study found that—in total—the nine hospitals are $727 million short of equaling the $1.2 billion in tax breaks they received in 2019. More
9 New York hospitals fall short on giving back to community by $727M: Lown Institute
Nine New York hospitals out of a study of 21 are failing to invest in their communities in an amount equal to the tax breaks they receive on a federal, state and local level, the Lown Institute reported Nov. 16. The study only examined data from nonprofit hospitals, including nine that are a total of $727 million short of community investments that equal their combined $1.2 billion in tax breaks in 2019. The report dubbed this a "fair share deficit." More
NYC Nonprofit Hospitals Saw High Tax Breaks, Low Community Investments
New York City nonprofit hospitals had a fair share deficit of $727 million in 2019, with nine major facilities spending less on community investments than they received in tax breaks, according to a report from the Lown Institute. In exchange for being exempt from most federal, state, and local taxes, nonprofit hospitals must provide free and discounted care to their communities and invest in community health improvements. More
REPORT: These NYC hospitals took in $727 million more in tax breaks than they gave back to their communities
A new report examining the finances of nonprofit hospitals in New York City finds that some hospitals fall significantly short on expected community investments. More
Bernard Lown Award nominations are open!
Nominations for the annual Bernard Lown Award for Social Responsibility are now open! More