Accretive Health calls allegations of wrongdoing 'baseless'; shares gain nearly 8%

Accretive Health calls allegations of wrongdoing 'baseless'; shares gain nearly 8%


Chicago-based company asks federal judge to throw out lawsuit filed by Minnesota attorney general

By Peter Frost, Chicago Tribune reporter
8:51 PM CDT, April 30, 2012


Shares of Accretive Health Inc. bounced back nearly 8 percent Monday after the company asked a U.S. judge to throw out a lawsuit filed in January by Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson and defended itself against additional allegations she raised in a separate report last week.

The Chicago-based company, which handles billing and collections for hospitals and health systems, said the allegations in the suit are "factually baseless and legally indefensible." Further, the company accused Swanson of orchestrating a nationwide media campaign rather than litigate the case in court.

Swanson sued Accretive Health in January after a laptop computer containing confidential medical information on 23,500 patients was stolen from an employee's car. The suit alleges the company violated patient-privacy and debt-collection laws and committed fraud.

In its motion filed Monday to dismiss the case, Accretive Health asserted that it cannot be held liable for the "unforeseeable criminal act of a third party stealing a corporate laptop" and said there was no evidence that any patient data has been compromised.

The incident prompted Swanson's investigation into the company. Last week, she released a scathing, six-volume report that accused Accretive Health of employing overly aggressive tactics to squeeze payments from patients in emergency rooms and recovery rooms of hospitals operated by Fairview Health Services, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit.

The report, which isn't a criminal complaint and includes no formal charges, alleged that some patients before receiving care at Fairview hospitals were pressured for payment by Accretive Health employees who didn't properly identify themselves as debt collectors.

It unleashed a barrage of criticism that thrust the fast-growing, publicly traded debt collector into the national spotlight. As a result, Accretive Health's stock fell more than 50 percent last week. It also prompted Fairview, one of Accretive Health's major customers, to terminate the remainder of its contract with the company Friday.

Accretive Health, which had been silent on the allegations in the days following the report's release, responded Sunday by saying the attorney general's report included extensive "inaccuracies, innuendo and unfounded speculation."

In a statement, the company said the accusations included in Swanson's report "grossly distort and mischaracterize Accretive Health's" services.

"The suggestion that our focus or practice is to put bedside pressure on patients to pay their medical bills out of pocket is a flagrant distortion of fact," the statement said. The company also disputed the allegation that it denied any patient access to medical care.

Company executives have declined requests to comment. Accretive Health is scheduled to hold its annual meeting of shareholders Wednesday.

Accretive Health's stock closed Monday at $10.06, up 7.8 percent.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0501-accretive-lawsuit-20120501,0,242601.story