Kaiser Employee Reported Illicit Patient Charges, Fired

Most Kaiser Permanente management employees, including doctors, understand what is required of them: they must go along with whatever is needed to increase profits. This woman didn't understand how Kaiser and other healthcare entities do business.

Woman: Reported Illicit Patient Charges, Fired
By TISH KRAFT
Courthouse News
November 29, 2012

PORTLAND (CN) - Kaiser fired its director of patient access business services for reporting what she believed was patient fraud, the director says in a complaint filed in Multnomah County Court.

Aimee Mansell sued Kaiser and her boss Lisa Morrison for wrongful termination and whistle blowing.

Mansell says in her complaint that she blew the whistle on Morrison, who had "devised a policy where Emergency Department employees, including Ms. Mansell, would collect an additional 'triage' charge from Emergency Department patients, or include the triage charge on that patient's invoice for services."

Because she believed the charges to be a violation of state and/or federal law, Mansell reported these violations to defendant's complaint hotline, the court complaint says.

"On numerous occasions Ms. Mansell complained to her supervisors, human resources department, and managers at Kaiser about what she believed in good faith were different work related violations which were being committed by defendant Ms. Morrison and other Kaiser employees," her court complaint continues.

"A substantial factor in Kaiser's decision to terminate Ms. Mansell's employment was due to her fulfilling the societal obligation of reporting what she believed in good faith was patient fraud, and by protesting these triage charges which defendant Ms. Morrison had imposed or planned to impose on patient accounts," Mansell says in her complaint.

A few months before she was fired, Mansell was presented an award "In recognition of many achievements and contributions throughout the year," signed by her direct supervisor and defendant Morrison, the Patient Access Business Services Director, according to the complaint.

Plaintiff is represented by Patrick D. Angel of Portland.