A Debate Over Data: Vt. hospitals question integrity of Green Mountain Care Board report
A report mandated by the legislature to prevent rural hospital closures and bankruptcies has been called into question by several hospitals.
“There are some very concerning recommendations I think. Some of the hospital said, ‘oh, you’re going to be changing us radically,’” said Vt. Senator Ginny Lyons.
The latest critiques come from Gifford and North Country Hospital, which say the consulting firm Oliver Wyman used false data to create the report. In a statement put out by officials from Gifford, they said, “Some key data points were incorrect, including acute inpatient admissions, emergency department visits, and birthing center births.”
We met with a team of data analysts to look over the numbers to find out what was wrong.
The first thing to note is that the consultant used multiple data sets, one provided by Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems, another which is an all-payer claims database, and vital statistics from the Department of Health. “There are different data sources for different purposes,” said Chair of the Green Mountain Care Board Owen Foster.