Acadia Healthcare, a behavioral health system spanning 38 states, allegedly steers patients to its facilities and delays discharges to increase profits, according to an investigation from The New York Times.
The Franklin, Tenn.-based system employs about 23,500 employees and operates more than 250 locations for behavioral health and substance use disorders, according to its website. Among the 19 states where it operates psychiatric hospitals, authorities in 12 states have been alerted about Acadia illegally detaining patients, the Times reported Sept. 1.
More than 50 current and former Acadia executives and employees said the organization lures and holds patients for financial reasons.
The system blocked patients from leaving through laws meant for those who pose an imminent threat to themselves or others, but legal standards were often not met, the Times found. Acadia also allegedly exaggerated patients' symptoms and convinced payers to cover longer lengths of stay, and harassed and influenced assessors to steer emergency department patients to the system's psychiatric hospitals.
An Acadia spokesperson told Becker's that the reports are inaccurate.
"Decisions on patient care, including how long treatment may be necessary, are never business decisions made by the company," the spokesperson said. "They are medical decisions made by licensed physicians and care clinicians in accredited, regulated healthcare facilities based on medical necessity and associated legal requirements. Additionally, the characterization of the few historic cases cited does not represent all facts influencing complex medical decisions made by multidisciplinary teams led by psychiatrists."