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Fairview hospitals executive admits 'mistakes were made' | StarTribune.com

Fairview CEO Mark Eustis says they are considering cutting all ties to Accretive Health, an Illinois consulting firm at the heart of the allegations.

Fairview officials now admit that "mistakes were made" by debt collectors who allegedly hounded patients at its hospitals, and say they are considering cutting all ties to Accretive Health, an Illinois consulting firm at the heart of the allegations.

"We're not here to hide anything," Mark Eustis, president and CEO of Fairview, said in an interview Friday. "We want to acknowledge that mistakes were made, and we feel badly about them and we need to repair that damage."

The comments came three days after Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson released a scathing report about abusive debt collection practices that thrust Fairview into the national spotlight.

Swanson accused Accretive, which was hired by Fairview, of creating an elaborate system to harass patients for money before, during and after their hospital visits. She said the practices were "rife with violations of Minnesota and federal laws."

Eustis denied that Fairview broke any laws, but acknowledged that the whole affair has damaged its reputation. "This isn't what we're about," he said. "We're here to provide great service and treat people with dignity and respect every day, and 99 percent of the time we think we do that."

Fairview already has ended its contract with Accretive to run what it calls its "revenue cycle" operations, but they still have an ongoing contract for other services, including quality and cost analysis.

But Eustis says Fairview is now considering cutting its ties with Accretive completely. "Knowing today what we know about Accretive and the implications that has for our own reputation in the community, we're going to take a very serious look at that," he said. Accretive has declined to comment on the allegations since Tuesday's report.

On Thursday, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., announced he planned to conduct a Senate investigation of the reported abuses. "If these allegations are true --and I do want to hear all sides of this story --they would be an affront to the health, privacy, and dignity of Minnesotans," he said.

Eustis vowed to cooperate with the Senate investigation, saying "we welcome his concern."