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RELEASED page 52

more, doctors often must haggle
with payers to extend coverage
for patients who need more hos-
pitalization than their insurance
plans normally allot.
Dr. Lesch says, "I've never had
an insurance company force a pa-
tient out of the hospital. Ever."
But Mary Ellen Gies of the
Michigan Peer Review Organi-
zation believes the quest for cost-
cutting has, indeed, prompted
medical professionals to cut cor-
ners. If insurance companies
don't pay for an extended stay,
patients generally foot the bill,
out-of-pocket.
"I think the big impetus is eco-
nomics," she says. "Patients have
been discharged prematurely. In
many cases, the problem is that
hospitals do not adequately pre-
pare for their patients' dis-
charge."
The Michigan Peer Review Or-
ganization is a Medicare watch-
dog agent for the federal
government. Currently, it is
working on a report detailing pre-
mature patient releases. The re-
port will be presented during
testimony before the U.S. Con-
gress, Ms. Gies says.
Dr. Reed at Sinai says hospi-
tals are working to avoid this
phenomenon by establishing de-
partments solely for discharge
planning. Such departments, im-
mediately upon a patient's ad-
mittance, prepare for his or her
timely release. Hospital dis-
charge planners try to assure
that home care will provide pa-
tients with adequate medical pro-
visions to assure their healthy
recoveries.
Increasingly, hospitals are de-
veloping their own home care de-
partments.
Hospital administrators also
are striving to shorten lengths of
stay by cutting red tape, stream-

lining interdepartmental sched-
ules and facilitating the prompt
delivery of test results.
"You won't have to wait until
tomorrow or the next day to get
an X-ray done, and things of that
sort," says Dr. Reed.
In Michigan, trends toward
shorter lengths of stays is bal-
ancing out because 25 percent of
the state's inpatient market
evaporated from 1983 to 1995,
says Donald Potter, president of
the Southeast Michigan Hospi-
tal Council.
"A lot of conditions that his-
torically required a short hospi-
tal stay are no longer requiring
a hospital stay at all," he says.
"They're being taken care of on
an outpatient basis."
This trend toward more out-
patient care has, in fact, some-
what lengthened average
hospital tenure. Patients who re-
main in hospitals these days are
generally sicker and in of need
close, prolonged attention. Over-
all, however, hospital stays in
Michigan are still less than they
were a decade ago.
These combined trends —
shorter stays and more outpa-
tient care — have accelerated the
closing and merging of 18 hospi-
tals in southeast Michigan. In
1983, there were 75 acute care
general hospitals in the region.
Today, 57 remain.
Still, Mr. Potter doesn't knock
the trend toward shorter lengths
of stay.
"My grandfather had a
cataract operation in the 1950s.
After surgery, the doctors placed
sandbags on either side of his
head and told him to lie there for
10 days," Mr. Potter says. "Now,
cataracts can be done in two or
three hours, and the patients
want to know if they can drive
home." ❑

Hoffman To Hit
For Foundation

he Michigan Cancer Foun-
dation will toss its "Part-
ners Tennis Challenge"
from March 30 to April 2 at
The Sports Club of West Bloom-
field.
The benefit will raise money
for the Michigan Cancer Foun-
dation's breast-cancer research
and hospice program.
The four-day, $1,500 singles
and doubles tournament will fea-
ture Luke and Murphy Jensen,
two brothers from Ludington,
Mich., who are known for their
zany on-and-off court antics and
musical abilities. The Jensens ac-
quired their first grand-slam ti-
tle in 1993 — winning the French
Open.

T

At the upcoming MCF benefit,
the Jensens will be playing both
singles and doubles, facing a field
of current and former world-
ranked professionals, as well as
Detroit's finest players. In addi-
tion to featuring Jimmy Arias,
formerly the world's fifth-ranked
player, the tournament will in-
clude Seth Hoffman, 19, of West
Bloomfield.
Mr. Hoffman was the No. f-
ranked 16-year-old in the Unit-
ed States in 1991. He plans to
play on satellite circuits during
1995, but will take time out to hit
for a home crowd at the MCF
Partners Tennis Challenge.
The local contingent will be led

HOFFMAN

page 56