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September 14, 2013 01:00 AM

Outliers: Play nice or else

Modern Healthcare
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    Outliers has long known that competition among Pittsburgh's health systems and insurers has been fierce and caustic, with skirmishes between major players spilling into courtrooms and headlines.

    Now the combative rivalry between UPMC, the city's dominant health system, and Highmark, an insurer that recently acquired Pittsburgh's smaller and struggling hospital operator, has provoked the ire of Pennsylvania's governor and top state regulators, who described the organizations' negative advertising campaigns as having an “unprofessional negative tone.”

    The state's insurance commissioner and health secretary, in a letter to the rivals, said UPMC and Highmark campaigns “appear to be intended to drive consumers to choose their health insurance and health provider based on fear rather than a balanced, factual understanding of their options.”

    A task force, created last month by Pennsylvania's governor and the two state regulatory agencies, has launched a review of the ads, according to the Health and Insurance departments' letter. Task force officials have talked candidly with both systems about their ads. Nonetheless, discussions so far have not alleviated concerns about the unprofessional and potentially inaccurate marketing.

    More of the same, the regulators said, “will be viewed as an aggravating factor for any potential future action taken by the commonwealth.”

    The letter ended by chiding both to use better judgment. Time will tell if the task force will succeed in tamping down the rivalry.

    Paul Wood, a spokesman for UPMC, said the 11-hospital system met with the task force to review the content and tone of its advertising and will continue to do so. Wood defended UPMC's ads as accurate.

    The system will continue to work with regulators to “try to lower the temperature,” he said.

    Aaron Billger, Highmark's spokesman, said in a statement that its latest ads were a response to misleading statements by UPMC and its rival's unwillingness to negotiate a new contract. “Highmark stands ready to work with UPMC to do what's best and right for the people or this region.”

    Follow Outliers on Twitter: @MHOutliers

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    • News
      • Current News
      • Providers
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      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Digital Health
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • ESG
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Data Center
      • Data Center Home
      • Hospital Financials
      • Staffing & Compensation
      • Quality & Safety
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Data Archive
      • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
      • Surveys
      • Data Points
    • Newsletters
    • MORE+
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      • Advertise
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