RE: Regarding patient [redacted]......

Brian.Hansen@parallon.net <Brian.Hansen@parallon.net> To: [redacted] Mr. [redacted]:

Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 10:29 AM

This office serves the administrative and legal needs of its corporate affiliate, Doctors Hospital of Augusta (Doctors). I have been forwarded the string of emails you exchanged with Doctors Patient Access Director, Mr. Haga, and after reviewing their contents, I have asked him to suspend further communications with you and to refer any correspondence or voice messages to me for follow up. Please be advised that future messages from you to Mr. Haga will not receive a response from him; instead, will be sent to me for review and reply. Accordingly, I kindly ask that you forego contacting Mr. Haga and direct all future communications to me via any of the means in the signature block below. Respectively,

Brian Hansen, Esq. Senior Counsel Parallon Business Solutions Shared Services Center, Atlanta 5707 Peachtree Parkway Norcross, GA 30092
P: 678.421.7975 F: 678.421.7976 C: 678.935.8687 brian.hansen@parallon.net brian.hansen@hcahealthcare.com www.parallon.net

Admitted to practice in Georgia

From: [redacted]

Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 10:34 AM

To: Brian.Hansen@parallon.net Brian, Please answer the questions contained in the string of emails that I have thus far sent to Mr. Haga. Respectfully,
[redacted]

Brian.Hansen@parallon.net <Brian.Hansen@parallon.net> To: [redacted]

Mr. [redacted]:

Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 11:40 AM

1) At this time I am unable to confirm what, if anything, was provided to Doctors Hospitals business office by Mr. Newman. I have asked hospital-based personnel to research the matter and if I am provided this information, I will pass it on to you. 2) I cannot tell you what billing practices Dr. Cartie employs. There is a federal law (the anti-kickback or Stark law) that prohibits hospitals from participating in or otherwise supporting the billing practices of independent physicians groups and other professionals who practice medicine at the hospital. Accordingly, you will need to direct this question to Dr. Carties offices.
Regards,

Brian Hansen, Esq. Senior Counsel Parallon Business Solutions Shared Services Center, Atlanta 5707 Peachtree Parkway Norcross, GA 30092
P: 678.421.7975 F: 678.421.7976 C: 678.935.8687 brian.hansen@parallon.net brian.hansen@hcahealthcare.com www.parallon.net

Admitted to practice in Georgia

This email and any files transmitted with it may contain PRIVILEGED or CONFIDENTIAL information and may be read or used only by the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient of the email or any of its attachments, please be advised that you have received this email in error and that any use, dissemination, distribution, forwarding, printing or copying of this email or any attached files is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please immediately purge it and all attachments and notify the sender by reply email or contact the sender at the number listed above.

[redacted]

Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 9:08 PM

To: Brian.Hansen@parallon.net Mr. Hansen, Please explain why you asked Mr. Haga to suspend further communications with me? What is the meaning of the cross symbol to the upper right of your signature?
[redacted]
On Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 10:29 AM, <Brian.Hansen@parallon.net> wrote:

[Quoted text hidden]

Brian.Hansen@parallon.net <Brian.Hansen@parallon.net> To: [redacted]

Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 10:01 PM

I assure you there was noting sinister or ill-toward about my request that Mr. Haga allow my office to handle your inquiry. In order assure timely and consistent responses, such questions typically are referred to the legal department. As for the cross, it is intended to draw the reader's attention to the explanatory note below the signature block (much like an asterisk would), where I disclose that I am licensed to practice law in the State of Georgia.

Brian Hansen, Esq. Senior Counsel Parallon Business Performance Group Atlanta Shared Service Center 5707 Peachtree Parkway Norcross, GA 30092

P: 678.421.7975 F: 678.421.7976 C: 678.935.8687 brian.hansen@parallon.net brian.hansen@hcahealthcare.com www.parallon.net

Admitted to practice in Georgia

This email and any files transmitted with it may contain PRIVILEGED or CONFIDENTIAL information and may be read or used only by the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient of the email or any of its attachments, please be advised that you have received this email in error and that any use, dissemination, distribution, forwarding, printing or copying of this email or any attached files is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please immediately purge it and all attachments and notify the sender by reply email or contact the sender at the number listed above. Please disregard any typos, this was sent from my iPad [Quoted text hidden]

[redacted]

Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 12:38 PM

To: Brian.Hansen@parallon.net Mr. Hansen, I attempting to acquire a document from the doctor's hospital. Said document would be entitled, "patient's rights and responsibilities" or similar. Mr. Haga indicated he would email this document to me. Thus far I have not received that promised. Please assist me in acquiring this document. Respectfully,
[redacted]

Brian.Hansen@parallon.net <Brian.Hansen@parallon.net> To: [redacted] Mr. [redacted]:

Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 5:24 PM

I believe this is the document you are requesting. In the interest of a more fuller explanation, please note that the rights delineated in the attached document are aspirational in nature, representing twenty-six general statements of the hospitals goal consistent with applicable lawto maintain an open channel of communication with the patient/responsible party, to seek out and accommodate patient/responsible party opinion and consent whenever possible, and to ethically deliver therapeutic and palliative care in a safe, secure environment. While I invite you to email me any questions you might have, I ask that you please understand I am prohibited from providing legal guidance and suggest you seek counsel of your own choosing should you have questions of this nature.

Brian Hansen, Esq. Senior Counsel Parallon Business Solutions Shared Services Center, Atlanta 5707 Peachtree Parkway Norcross, GA 30092
P: 678.421.7975 F: 678.421.7976 C: 678.935.8687 brian.hansen@parallon.net brian.hansen@hcahealthcare.com www.parallon.net

Admitted to practice in Georgia

This email and any files transmitted with it may contain PRIVILEGED or CONFIDENTIAL information and may be read or used only by the intended recipient. If you are not the intended recipient of the email or any of its attachments, please be advised that you have received this email in error and that any use, dissemination, distribution, forwarding, printing or copying of this email or any attached files is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please immediately purge it and all attachments and notify the sender by reply email or contact the sender at the number listed above.

Pt Rights & Responsibilities.pdf

[redacted]

Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 7:56 PM

To: Brian.Hansen@parallon.net Mr. Hansen, I am trying to learn and understand all of the relevant facts as they pertain or may pertain to the [redacted] matter. Your assistance thus far is well received. I was promised that the lawful notice that I personally provided Eric Newman on December 19, 2012 would be delivered to the office at the hospital in Augusta by December 20, 2012. A copy of said document was emailed to you earlier by me. What I wish to know is this: 1. Is the document now on file at the hospital thus operative insofar as making it clear that no medical info regarding Flint Cross be shared with medicaid or any other third party? 2. Was said document delivered by Eric Newman to the Doctors Hospital, JMS on or around December 20th, 2012? Respectfully and friendly,
[redacted]

Brian.Hansen@parallon.net <Brian.Hansen@parallon.net> To: [redacted]

Good morning Mr. [redacted]:

Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 9:46 AM

The hospital prides itself on being responsive to its patients and their responsible parties, so I am pleased to have been able to assist to this point. As yet, I have been unable to confirm Mr. Newman delivered anything approximating what you describe as legal notice to the burn units staff or the Doctors Hospitals business office. That is likely due to the fact that Mr. Newman is an employee of Joseph M. Still Burn Centers, Inc. (JMSI) and that being the case, Id like to take this opportunity to explain the corporations relationship with the Hospital just to ensure theres no chance of making what is a very common misunderstanding: believing the two entities are one and the same. JMSI is a Georgia corporation organized and owned by a group of specialized burn care physicians and surgeons. While JMSI shares a very similar name with the Doctors Hospital wing that houses the burn treatment facilities, that is solely because both were named in honor of the late Joseph M. Still, who was a local physician and pioneer in the field of burn care. JMSI indeed provides burn physicians and other specialized caregivers to the burn unit; however, it is a wholly independent corporation that does not share any common command or control nor ownership interest with the Hospital, which is a Delaware corporation whose parent company also is a Delaware corporation. Aside from requiring JMSI to meet industry-established minimum acceptable standards of care and to provide adequate staffing to meet the burn units needs, Doctors Hospital has no control over JMSIs operations, business affairs, or employees. The upshot of the foregoing is that outside the realm of quality of care, Doctors Hospital has very little control over JMSI, much less what one of its employees does or does not do. Consequently, I ask that you direct any questions about what Mr. Newman said or did (or didnt say or do) to his employer, JMSI. Information about them can be found at their website, www.jmsburncenters.com/common/content.asp?PAGE=137. I will continue to seek out the documents existence, but recommend you also reach out to JMSI.

Regards, Brian Hansen, Esq. Senior Counsel Parallon Business Solutions Shared Services Center, Atlanta 5707 Peachtree Parkway Norcross, GA 30092
P: 678.421.7975 F: 678.421.7976 C: 678.935.8687 brian.hansen@parallon.net brian.hansen@hcahealthcare.com

[redacted]

Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 10:24 AM

To: Brian.Hansen@parallon.net Mr. Hansen, Of immediate importance is to effect no additional sharing of medical information with medicaid, regarding Flint Cross. Thank you for the corporate clarification. It was well expressed to Mr. Haga, a Doctor's Hospital employee I presume, that medicaid for [redacted] was not an option and that I was a self pay patient. To date, the doctor's hospital has not shared [redacted]'s medical information with medicaid. However, Mr. Haga's function involves the dissemination of my self pay status to those involved with [redacted]'s care regardless of their corporate affiliation. Please answer these questions: 1.Did Mr. Haga inform Dr. Cartie, Dr. Abu Hassan, and a Marcy Bell that Flint was self pay? 2. Did Mr. Haga indicate to said individuals that I[redacted] had a "moral dilemma" with medicaid and was uninterested in applying for medicaid? 3. Did Mr. Haga suggest to anyone during this instant matter that Flint[redacted] could/would qualify for medicaid coverage if DFCS were to take custody of [redacted]? Respectfully,
[redacted]

Brian.Hansen@parallon.net <Brian.Hansen@parallon.net> To: [redacted]

Mr. [redacted]:

Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 11:37 AM

At the risk of sounding flippantwhich is not my intentit is one thing to hold oneself out as self-pay but quite another to do so when the account remains unpaid. My suggestion is that if you indeed do not want the patients bill paid by Medicaid, then it is incumbent upon you to pay the account per the terms set forth in the conditions of admission form that was either signed by you or, in the absence of your signature, implied in law according to well-established legal principles governing the formation of contracts for medical services. See, e.g., Cox v. Athens Reg. Med. Ctr., Inc., 279 Ga.App. 585 (2006).
The record reflects that a bill was addressed to you on or about December 10, 2012. The contract you impliedly agreed to requires payment within 30 days so by my calculation payment was due on or before January 9, almost two months ago. I respect that you have a moral dilemma with your sons care being paid for using Medicaid funds; I hope, however, that this moral dilemma does not extend to paying for your sons services from your own resources. As for your questions, I do not have an answer and in all honesty, I support 25 hospitals in five states and simply do not have the resources to investigate and respond to each and every query youre sending. In the absence of payment, there is absolutely nothing unlawful with a medical provider qualifying a patients bill for payment from a public funding source. In other words, if payment is not forthcoming, providers are not obligated by law to pin their hopes for remuneration upon a responsible partys potentially unfulfilled promise to pay. Thus, I suggest that if you truly wish to avoid shifting responsibility for payment of your sons services to Medicaid or another public source of funding, then you should promptly pay the bill. This will have the effect of closing the account, thereby obviating future collection efforts and mooting your concerns.

Regards, Brian Hansen, Esq. Senior Counsel Parallon Business Solutions Shared Services Center, Atlanta 5707 Peachtree Parkway Norcross, GA 30092
P: 678.421.7975 F: 678.421.7976 C: 678.935.8687 brian.hansen@parallon.net brian.hansen@hcahealthcare.com www.parallon.net

[redacted]

Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 1:13 PM

To: Brian.Hansen@parallon.net Mr. Hansen, I was under the expectation given to me by you that your advisement whether it be legal or otherwise would not occur. Your last note does indeed appear to be legal advice. Do you presume to advise me regarding case law, statutory constructions, and the like? If so, please understand that I have questions for Mr. Haga and you have indicated that you will operate in Mr. Haga's stead. Therefore, I am asking you case specific questions and no more. Do you refuse to answer my previous three questions on Mr. Haga's behalf? If so then I may be required to subpoena the answers from him directly. Respectfully and friendly,
[redacted]

Brian.Hansen@parallon.net <Brian.Hansen@parallon.net> To: [redacted] Mr. [redacted]:

Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 1:46 PM

Firstly, I did not offer legal advice. E.g. means for example and by employing the signal, See, e.g., I was merely suggesting you consider an exemplary case that I believe provides controlling legal authority supporting my clients position. Whats more, I included that citation without in any way qualifying or characterizing the courts ruling. By any measure, this is not legal advice and I invitebetter yet, encourageyou to direct your concern to the Georgia State Bar if you are so inclined because I am 1000% confident that they will agree with me and conclude I did not provide you legal advice. Secondly, as for your need for answers, I believe we have gone beyond our obligations to you to address your questions and accommodate your inquiries. If you disagree, you are welcome to take whatever actions you desire. Please note, however, that I am not going to quiver at the threat of a subpoena because this is not my first time to the rodeo and I am entirely secure in my conclusion you were not deprived and any legally cognizable rights or privileges. And please be aware that we will not respond to any document that purports to be a subpoena unless it has been lawfully issued by an agency or court of competent jurisdiction and properly served in accordance with applicable state or federal rules of procedure. Thirdly, I note your reply omits any discussion about the major premise of my last message; to wit: if youd like to aver your self-pay status, then please pay the bill. In the absence of payment, we are entirely within our rights to undertake any and all collection remedies lawfully available to us and if those include billing your sons care to a public funding source, then that will be a considered option. If you truly want to avoid that outcome, then please comport yourself with the moral obligation to pay a debt thats due. Lastly, I believe this email colloquy is going nowhere but sideways and is not benefitting either side. Accordingly, I do not plan to continue the discourse.

Regards, Brian Hansen, Esq. Senior Counsel Parallon Business Solutions Shared Services Center, Atlanta 5707 Peachtree Parkway Norcross, GA 30092
P: 678.421.7975 F: 678.421.7976 C: 678.935.8687 brian.hansen@parallon.net brian.hansen@hcahealthcare.com www.parallon.net

[redacted]

Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 2:04 PM

To: Brian.Hansen@parallon.net Mr. Hansen, I detect a bit of defensiveness in your last reply. Perchance it is best for you to take leave of this matter. I will not hold you at fault for doing so. Respectfully and friendly,
[redacted]

Brian.Hansen@parallon.net <Brian.Hansen@parallon.net> To: [redacted] Nope on all accounts.

Brian Hansen, Esq.

Wed, Feb 27, 2013 at 2:19 PM

Senior Counsel Parallon Business Solutions Shared Services Center, Atlanta 5707 Peachtree Parkway Norcross, GA 30092
P: 678.421.7975 F: 678.421.7976 C: 678.935.8687