The ongoing impasse between BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and CHI Memorial Hospital is perplexing. It's even more baffling to see BCBS promoting Parkridge Medical Center as "preferred" over CHI Memorial.
Medicare gives Parkridge a 3-star rating and CHI Memorial a 5-star rating. Patient satisfaction surveys distributed to Medicare patients rate Parkridge with 3 stars and CHI Memorial with 4 stars. US News' hospital rankings place CHI Memorial as #1 in the area and Erlanger #2, while Parkridge doesn't meet their criteria for ranking in the region. With third parties consistently rating CHI Memorial superior to Parkridge, one wonders why BCBS would deem it "preferred," except perhaps in limited areas like labor and delivery where they don't compete.
The BlueCross BlueShield Association, the nation's premier not-for-profit insurer, has aided Americans in accessing healthcare for 95 years. CHI Memorial, as the Tennessee Valley's premier not-for-profit healthcare provider for over 70 years, fulfills the mission of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth by using periodic community health needs assessments to provide increasingly diverse healthcare to Chattanooga and the surrounding area.
While even not-for-profit entities must have more revenue than expenses, as a private, for-profit hospital, Parkridge's main reason for existence is to generate profit for shareholders. It's difficult to understand how BCBS could "prefer" this over working with CHI Memorial.
Rev. Jeff P. Crim, long-term cancer survivor treated at CHI Memorial and CHI Memorial Georgia