Pinnacle Partners in Medicine Continues its Mission to Uphold the Highest Standards in Quality Care
On Monday, April 9th, 2007, a jury ruled in favor of Dr. Neal Fisher, formerly of the Dallas Division of Pinnacle Partners in Medicine (Pinnacle), in his case against Pinnacle regarding his dismissal from the company. We stand by our defense that Dr. Fisher violated the terms of his contract, and that his dismissal is in keeping with our mission and policies to uphold the highest standards in quality care, and to elevate the practice of anesthesiology and pain medicine. We will be asking Judge Ginsberg to formally set aside the verdict. If our request is denied, we plan a vigorous defense of our rights in the form of an appeal. Our position will include two principal points: 1) an early ruling by Judge Ginsberg disallowed key evidence in Pinnacle's defense; 2) the burden of proof in the trial outcome mistakenly fell on Pinnacle (the defense) rather than Dr. Fisher (the plaintiff). There are several key facts of which to be aware. First, the press releases distributed by Dr. Fisher's attorneys portray this case as one of retribution against a whistleblower. That is not the issue. There was no evidence presented in this case nor jury findings supporting these allegations.
Second, Dr. Fisher alleges that he repeatedly expressed discomfort with Pinnacle's "Out-of-Network" strategy or business plan in which we benefited at patients' expense by advertising ourselves as being in-network but in reality being out-of-network. On the contrary, at the time of Dr. Fisher's employment and termination Pinnacle was largely in-network with all of the major payors in North Texas. Moreover, at present, all of Pinnacle's over 250 physicians are in-network with long-term contracts with all of the major payors in our market, including United Healthcare, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna Healthcare and Cigna Healthcare as well as many other health plans.
Third, Pinnacle physicians take pride in the fact that we hold each other accountable for our actions and care. Our peer review, quality and credentialing processes far surpass those of the facilities in which we work. In fact, these processes are reason alone to be in a large group.
Finally, please remember that this case is still in litigation and will take many more months to conclude. Therefore, Pinnacle cannot discuss the details of this case beyond what is covered in this statement. However, Pinnacle would like to answer any questions you have regarding our current patient care and business practices. Please contact us with those questions at 972-715-5000.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Michael Hicks, MD, Chairman and President
Andrea Bohannon, Chief Executive Officer