VIRGINIA MASON MEDICAL CENTER AGREES TO
JUDGMENT AGAINST IT FOR REFUND OF ALL
FACILITY FEES PAID BY PARTICIPATING CLASS MEMBERS

In a stunning development in the first case of its kind in the country, Virginia Mason Medical Center has agreed to entry of a judgment against it requiring it to refund facility fee payments made by over 3200 patients over the past six years and requiring it to forgive any debt those patients may have for facility fee charges that Virginia Mason had assessed to them.
 

On February 15, 2007, Judge Canova granted final approval of the proposed judgment.  In addition to greater transparency in their billing and the implementation of an estimation process for all patients of Virginia Mason, class members who filed timely consent forms will get a refund or a reduction in debt based on the out-of-pocket charges to class members for hospital facility charges. 

 Virginia Mason has been ordered to pay damages owed to qualifying class members no later than August 14, 2007 and may begin distributing refunds as soon as March 18, 2007.  All direct payments by class members to Virginia Mason for a hospital facility charge at Virginia Mason’s downtown clinic for outpatient services, where such services were provided at least once in one of Virginia Mason’s freestanding clinics from January 1, 1999 to December 31, 2005 will be refunded and any outstanding amounts for these charges will be forgiven.

In the class action lawsuit, brought in January 2005, the plaintiff DeLois Gibson claimed that Virginia Mason acted unfairly and deceptively by failing to tell her about the huge price disparities between Virginia Mason’s downtown and satellite clinics.  Patients who received services at Virginia Mason’s downtown clinics were charged large facility fees that were not charged at its satellite clinics for the same services, often by the same doctor.    

By agreeing to a judgment against it, Virginia Mason agrees that it is liable to refund or forgive all the facility fees paid by the thousands of patients who have authorized claims in the suit and who could have received the same services at far lower cost elsewhere within the Virginia Mason clinic system.  All this came after Judge Gregory Canova certified a class action over Virginia Mason’s objection and rejected Virginia Mason’s attempts to dismiss the suit, including its argument that it had no duty to tell its patients about its gross price differentials.  Under the judgment, Virginia Mason has also agreed to provide an estimating service to its patients so they will know in advance how much their out-of-pocket expenses for treatment will be, and it has agreed to clearly inform its patients about pricing at its different locations so that patients can make informed judgments about where to go for treatment.

Link to Related Document

Final Judgment

By agreeing to a judgment against it, Virginia Mason agrees that it is liable to refund or forgive all the facility fees paid by the thousands of patients who have authorized claims in the suit and who could have received the same services at far lower cost elsewhere within the Virginia Mason clinic system.  All this came after Judge Gregory Canova certified a class action over Virginia Mason’s objection and rejected Virginia Mason’s attempts to dismiss the suit, including its argument that it had no duty to tell its patients about its gross price differentials.  Under the judgment, Virginia Mason has also agreed to provide an estimating service to its patients so they will know in advance how much their out-of-pocket expenses for treatment will be, and it has agreed to clearly inform its patients about pricing at its different locations so that patients can make informed judgments about where to go for treatment.

Said John Phillips, lead counsel for Ms. Gibson and the class of thousands of Virginia Mason patients, “We’re extremely happy with this judgment that the parties have asked the Court to enter.  It gives every class member who made a claim a complete recovery, and it requires Virginia Mason to provide the kind of information that patients need so they can make intelligent decisions about their health care – not just information about treatment options, but what the cost of treatment will be.  Patients need to know hospital prices – particularly when they vary greatly depending on what door they walk through, so they can be better consumers of health care. This judgment against Virginia Mason is an important step in that direction.”

The attorneys representing the plaintiffs in this case are John Phillips, Matt Geyman and Thomas Loeser of Phillips Law Group, PLLC.  To learn more, please call John Phillips at (206) 484-0016 or Matt Geyman at (206) 382-1168 or visit www.jphillipslaw.com.