Netcare cries foul over Discovery ‘role’
Private hospital group Netcare has raised questions about the independence of the competition commission’s health-market inquiry, suggesting it may have been influenced by SA’s biggest medical scheme administrator, Discovery Health.
Private hospital group Netcare has raised questions about the independence of the Competition Commission’s health market inquiry, suggesting it may have been influenced by SA’s biggest medical scheme administrator, Discovery Health.
The inquiry is investigating the barriers to effective competition in the private health-care market and published its interim report in July.
Netcare alleged that the report’s chapter on the theory of supplier-induced demand and its findings were influenced by Discovery Health, the inquiry said on Tuesday.
Supplier-induced demand is a phenomenon in which increased access prompts additional use of a service that would not otherwise have occurred; for example, an increase in the number of hospital beds in an area could trigger a surge in admissions. It is a sensitive issue, because supplier-induced demand leads to overservicing and drives up costs.
Netcare said it is concerned by the fact that the report’s chapter on supplier-induced demand has been drafted by Neil Soderlund, who heads a joint venture between Discovery Health and Quantium called Quantium Health Outcomes.
It said it has been informed of this by Soderlund himself, and the inquiry confirmed his involvement on Monday.
The inquiry should have advised stakeholders of his involvement, given the potential for a conflict of interest, Netcare’s director for strategy and health policy, Melanie da Costa, said. “Netcare’s submission in response to the provisional report makes it clear that its concerns are not directed at Discovery Health or Dr Soderlund personally, but relate to the fairness of the inquiry’s process.”
The panel said that it is independent and impartial and that Discovery Health had neither influence in identifying supplier-induced demand as a topic for investigation, nor did it influence the methodology adopted by the panel or its findings.
Supplier-induced demand is well acknowledged in all healthcare markets. It was identified by several stakeholders and was reflected in the inquiry’s terms of reference published in 2013, said the panel.
Discovery Health CEO Jonathan Broomberg said that Soderlund was consulting to the inquiry before his business was acquired by Quantium Health Outcomes, and that the transaction was declared to the inquiry.
“Discovery Health was entirely uninvolved in the consulting engagement between Dr Soderlund and the [inquiry].
“Discovery Health made numerous submissions based on its own data and views, including on supplier-induced demand,” he said.
“We believe that Dr Soderlund conducted his engagement with the inquiry with the utmost integrity and we have no reason or evidence to doubt the objectivity, fairness and transparency of the inquiry process in relation to this matter.”
The health market inquiry plans to release its final report by March 29, 2019.