More Fall-Out from Allegations of Faculty Positions Traded for Referrals at UMDNJ

The latest development in the mess at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) produced some interesting analysis in the media. As we have discussed previously, the university now is operating under a federal deferred prosecution agreement with the supervision of a federal monitor (see most recent posts here, here, here, here and here.) We had previously discussed allegations that UMDNJ had offered no-bid contracts, at times requiring no work, to the politically connected; had paid for lobbyists and made political contributions, even though UMDNJ is a state institution; and seemed to be run by political bosses rather than health care professionals. (See posts here, and here, with links to previous posts.) The latest development (see post here with links to previous posts) was that UMDNJ apparently gave paid part-time faculty positions to some community cardiologists in exchange for their referrals to the University's cardiac surgery program, but not in exchange for any major academic responsibilities.

First, the indefatigable Newark Star-Ledger reported that Dr Jerrold Ellner, the chair of medicine at the UMDNJ Newark campus, was put on administrative leave because he and Ronald Pittore, of the school's legal department, "were identified by the university's federal monitor as key figures in UMDNJ's plan to hire at least 18 local cardiologists as part-time clinical assistant professors."

That event inspired a news analysis article in the New York Times. The points it made included,

As New Jersey’s state medical school has been shaken in the past year by disclosures of widespread financial mismanagement, administrators there have repeatedly defended the institution, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, by insisting that the scandals have affected its treasury but not the quality of care for the more than two million patients it treats each year.

But a federal monitor’s recent accusations that the cardiology unit at the university’s main hospital has been paying kickbacks to doctors for referring heart patients have undercut that argument at a time when the school’s future remains in doubt.

The fact that some of the university’s most prominent doctors now stand accused of taking part in an illegal scheme that involved life-or-death medical decisions is likely to further tarnish the school’s image at a time when state officials are deciding whether to merge the institution with Rutgers University and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

Governor Corzine said on Wednesday that charges about the quality of care being affected by the scandal were deeply troubling — 'It’s really disgusting that the culture allowed for this kind of practice' — but added that he had not decided whether to restructure or disband the school.
But other state officials said the latest round of disclosures would only heighten pressure for a merger.

'This just highlights the disaster of trying to salvage what’s left,' said State Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, a Democrat from Union County who is chairman of a panel examining the future of the school. 'Before, the focus was on enhancing the ability to provide education. But now we’re also talking about direct impact on health care and people’s lives.'

On one hand, it is too bad that this analysis appeared in the Times' regional section. Although one would think that a scandal of this magnitude involving the biggest health care university in the US would attract national attention, as an example of the anechoic effect, it has been treated largely as a regional matter.

On the other hand, the analysis recounts some curious ideas about this case.

The first is that a scandal involving top leaders of the health care university had only financial significance, at least until a top physician leader was involved. Underlying this might be an asumption that the managerial and financial sphere of the university is entirely separate from the clinical and academic sphere. But the mismanagement in the former sphere must have sapped resources from the latter. Furthermore, it is hard to believe that clinical and academic personnel did not sense something wrong in the top management, and at least that the focus was more on the personal interests of the top management than the mission of the university. Such a sense would likely at least have dispirited these personnel, and certainly would not have enhanced their performance.

The second curious notion was that the involvement of a top physician-leader somehow signifies that the institution is now irredeemable, and the only remaining choices are to merge it into another institution, or shut it down entirely. This seems to discount, again, all the hard-working clinical and academic personnel who have been laboring to keep things together at UMDNJ together despite the bad behavior by top management. Maybe somebody should talk to this long-suffering group before any irrevocable decisions are made about the structure of the institution. And again, for better or worse, all should remember that health care institutions are made up of many dedicated hard-working people, besides the top managers. Perhaps again the underlying assumption is that somehow imperial top management is indistinguisable from the institution, the notion that "l'hospital c'est moi."

This notion must be discarded in favor of health care governance that is more representative of the relevant stake-holders, as well as more accountable, transparent, and ethical.