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The Daily Tar Heel

Solve health system disputes: UNC should address WakeMed accusations soon

Two health systems located one county apart could not possibly have more divergent views than UNC Health Care and WakeMed. And if the providers do not work out their differences soon, it’s the well-being of the local health system that stands to suffer.

Adversarial relations between the two health care providers will only be a distraction from both systems’ ability to fulfill their social commitments to the most vulnerable population: the least advantaged.

Yet WakeMed CEO Bill Atkinson is on the war path to expose what he believes is “predatory” behavior by UNC Health Care in the Wake County health care market.

There’s a long litany of grievances which the systems are in nearly complete disagreement.

WakeMed says Rex Health Care, a private provider bought by UNC, now has an ambiguous financial status. UNC says it is a private nonprofit.

WakeMed officials said that UNC is not properly calculating its uncompensated care. UNC says it employs a widely-used formula.

WakeMed officials also said that UNC is affiliating with profitable physician’s practices, leaving indigent care an increasing burden borne by WakeMed. UNC says it does plenty of charity care in the Wake County market.

WakeMed believes the reimbursement formulas for Medicaid and Medicare favor UNC. UNC believes that in practice, WakeMed is compensated competitively.

Most importantly, WakeMed believes that UNC’s records would vindicate its allegations, and it has submitted public information requests for them.

“It’s very large in scope, and it’s going to be some time to look at the things they are asking us to provide, many of which are public,” said Karen McCall, vice president of public affairs and marketing.

But the statement belies the accessibility of the information that UNC is trying to portray. Just because it’s public doesn’t mean it’s easy to find or digest.

At this time, there is no reason to believe that UNC is not working to clear its name with WakeMed. But it must take these allegations seriously.

The public interest will hardly be served if, after 35 years of cooperation, antipathy becomes the new norm.

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