The economics of higher education


You might think universities would be immune to the financial pressures of the non-academic marketplace. You would be wrong.

Brandeis University is struggling financially, and recently fired their resident string quartet, the Lydian String Quartet* after 40 years, to save $275,000.

Other universities that, unlike Brandeis, have medical schools, are also struggling with their budgets.

“More light has been shed on allegations of a toxic work environment at the University of Virginia School of Medicine and UVA Health.

 

“About a year ago, surgeons had raised concerns that they were pressured by leadership to upcode in an effort to bring in more money, according to The Daily Progress.

 

“The news outlet obtained an audio recording from a meeting last November that was attended by surgeons, the department chair, and representatives for the health system's billing and coding team.

 

“"You're going to get in a lot of trouble if somebody tells [a surgeon] you need to bill 99291 on every one of these patients like that," a surgeon said during the meeting. "That is what gets universities in trouble."

 

“"We're the ones that would get fined and go to jail," the surgeon said, according to The Daily Progress.

 

“Surgeons said there was "tremendous pressure" from senior leadership to charge patients more, particularly at the system's flagship hospital UVA Medical Center in Charlottesville, according to the article. Doctors were told to do so by using the CPT code 99291, which indicates a doctor spent 30 to 74 minutes administering critical care services.

 

“This code brings in $1,060 and 4.5 relative value units, while a similar code (99232) brings in only $200 and about 1.39 relative value units, the article stated.

 

“Troubles at UVA Health first came to light in September, when 128 faculty employed by UVA Physicians Group authored a letter of no confidence in UVA Health CEO Craig Kent, MD, and School of Medicine dean Melina Kibbe, MD, calling for their immediate removal.””

That’s a lot more than the quarter million dollars saved by firing the Lydians. But at the end of the day, universities—including state universities—are businesses and answer to bean counters, not academics.

*Full disclosure: my sister was a founding member of the Lydians.

 https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/112567?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2024-10-24&mh=eb71348a5ff6ae370cc6759bc5dc3300&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20Headlines%20Evening%20-%20Randomized%202024-10-24&utm_term=NL_Daily_DHE_dual-gmail-definition

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