Regarding “New Jersey health care costs will soon plummet. Here’s why,” app.com, May 31:
On behalf of the doctors at South Jersey Radiology Associates and Larchmont Medical Imaging, the practices mentioned in Michael Busler’s op-ed praising Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield for cutting ties with practices like ours, we disagree with his perspective as He did not tell his readers the full story.
Imagine that you are an employee who has been working at a company for a long time. All of your performance reviews are very positive and you are clearly one of the company’s best employees. Despite his good performance, and although his company continues to generate higher profits year after year, he has not received a salary increase in seven years. Your expenses continue to increase due to inflation and you realize that you need to approach your employer to ask for a raise to keep up with your cost of living. He finally works up the courage to ask for this raise, and instead of listening and engaging in a discussion, his employer responds that he needs to take a pay cut to stay with the company.
How would you feel in this situation? What would you do?
Unfortunately, this is the situation we find ourselves in with Horizon.
SJRA and Larchmont have been the leading provider of radiology services in southern New Jersey for more than 50 years. We are the first providers in the region to receive the Diagnostic Imaging Center of Excellence designation and the only non-hospital Designated Comprehensive Breast Imaging Centers accredited by the American College of Radiology in the area. Thousands of patients rely on our services each year to find the answers they need for important medical diagnoses or to understand if the treatment they or their loved ones are using is working.
By not keeping SJRA and Larchmont in its network, Horizon has limited patients’ ability to access radiology services at our 16 convenient, independent locations, including four dedicated women’s centers, which serve as an alternative to hospital-based imaging. Higher cost. Rather than reducing costs, as the author suggests, the result for many patients will be that imaging costs will be up to five times more expensive when they seek care in hospital outpatient departments. They are also likely to experience longer wait times for an appointment, which is a major concern for patients undergoing breast cancer screening or for whom a doctor orders follow-up imaging.
The healthcare industry, like most other industries, is burdened with increased cost pressures due to the increased operating expenses necessary to provide high-quality care to our patients. SJRA and Larchmont have made significant investments in advanced technologies that continue to make us leaders in providing high-quality, cost-effective imaging services. However, our practices have not received a Horizon rate increase in over five years for Larchmont and seven years for SJRA. When we decided we needed to ask Horizon about a new rate that would reflect the significant increase in our costs of providing high-quality care, they actually responded with a proposal that would be a significant decrease in the rate.
This decision was not made easily. As physicians, we were, and still are, concerned about how an out-of-network status with Horizon would affect our patients who depend on us for answers. We have been negotiating in good faith to reach common ground that considers the increasing cost of providing the high-quality care our community deserves. However, no company can absorb unprecedented increases in operating costs and reduce prices at the same time.
While the author celebrates Horizon’s action as a victory for the free market, we must carefully consider the broader, long-term consequences for New Jersey patients to be able to access the health care provider of their choice. We are committed to advocating for you and your ability to choose your health care provider, and we remain hopeful that Horizon will reconsider its position and negotiate with us in good faith so that we can ensure that health care remains fair, accessible, and of the highest standard. highest quality for our community.
Dr. Kevin Barry practices with Larchmont Imaging Associates in Mount Laurel. Dr. Greg Goodworth practices with South Jersey Radiology Associates in Vorhees Township.
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