CRESTVIEW — North Okaloosa Medical Center administrators are scoffing at a national nurses union report claiming the local hospital charges the nation's fourth-highest billing mark-up.

Crestview's hospital is surpassed only by hospitals in Secaucus, N.J., Painsville, Ky., and Orange Park, California-based National Nurses United stated in a press release.

NOMC charges patients 1,137 percent of its treatment expenses against a state average of 555 percent and national average of 331 percent, according to the release.

The claim, NOMC Chief Executive Officer David Fuller said, is faulty in its calculations and excludes multiple factors involved in medical charges.

"Their methodology was really rudimentary," Fuller said.

For example, Fuller said, for-profit North Okaloosa writes off between $1 million and $1.5 million per month in charity patient treatment charges, which were not included in the union's study.

"Our hospital provided more than $13.5 million in uncompensated care last year," NOMC Director of Marketing Rachel Neighbors stated in a news release.

Hospitals' claim that actual patient charges don’t matter because few patients pay the list price is "a defense that defies logic,” union President Jean Ross stated in the NNU release, claiming high hospital charges result in higher insurance payments.

"Uninsured individuals with far less bargaining power are too often hit with the full list price," Ross said.

That's not the case at NOMC, Fuller said. Charges are established with insurers such as Medicare, Medicaid and individual insurance companies, he said.

"Every insurance plan we participate with pays a negotiated rate," Fuller said. "Even for our self-pay patients, we offer huge discounts," as much as 50 percent off the bill, Fuller said.

"Presuming the (NNU's) analysis is correct, it’s important to know charges are not the same as what consumers actually pay," Neighbors stated.

"You have to look at who's originating the study, what's their underlying  motivation, and what's their method," Fuller said.

The union's release of its study of publicly available Medicare cost reports was timed with its protest of NOMC parent company Community Health Services Inc.'s planned acquisition of Health Management Association.

Community Health's shareholders approved the acquisition last week at a meeting in Naples. Fuller said adding more hospitals to CHS's family will benefit, not hurt, patients, as the union claimed.

"It gives us a much stronger leverage in the provision of patient care," Fuller said, citing increased opportunities to turn to sister hospitals that offer expertise in areas NOMC does not.

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: NOMC CEO challenges hospital's #4 rank on list of overcharging U.S. hospitals

EDITOR'S NOTE: This report is part of the News Bulletin's ongoing series on cancer-research fundraisers. The newspaper is proud to support Relay For Life Crestview, which will take place 6 p.m. April 25 at Shoal River Middle School.

CRESTVIEW — Daniel Richards has found a way to combine his love of running and his passion for raising awareness to find a cure for cancer.

"I'm calling it 55 days of inspiration," he says.  

 Since early December, the Davidson Middle School science teacher has run a mile or more each day to honor cancer survivors, those dealing with cancer and those who have died from it.

Richards honors each person by writing their first name across his face, he contemplates their journey as his feet hit the pavement, and he posts a photo diary on his Facebook page.

Follow Daniel Richards' and his "55 days to inspire">>

"There is a story about everyone," he said. "I just get to go out every day and I get a chance to think about these people and what they have gone through."

Fighting the disease is personal for Richards, whose 6-year-old son, Caleb, was diagnosed with kidney cancer at 4 months old. The Riverside Elementary School first-grader now is cancer-free after receiving successful treatments.  

Richards' runs began after he met Landon Cooper of "Miles 2 Give." Cooper, with two other runners, raise funds for sarcoma cancer research. This form of cancer develops in the connective tissue.   

"It inspired me to do something more," Richards said. "I had a burden and a passion to do it."

The 55th and final day of his run coincides with the Davidson Dash Run for a Cure 5K / 10K on Feb. 1.

Although he might get sore from the frequent running, Richards said the fatigue is nothing to complain about.

"It's very small and minute compared to what these people have gone through," he said.

WANT TO GO?

WHAT:  Davidson Dash Run for a Cure 5K / 10K

WHEN:  8:30 a.m. Feb.1

WHERE: Davidson Middle School, 6261 Old Bethel Road, Crestview

COST: Pre-registration entry for the 5K and 10K is $20; race-day registration costs $25. The kids' fun run is $10.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown at 850-682-6524 or matthewb@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbMatthew.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview man raises cancer research awareness with exercise, photo diary

EDITOR'S NOTE: This report is part of the News Bulletin's ongoing series on cancer-research fundraisers. The newspaper is proud to support Relay For Life Crestview, which will take place April 25 at Shoal River Middle School.

CRESTVIEW — $6,800 is the goal to beat for Davidson Middle School's Relay For Life team.

The group collected that much from last year's Davidson Dash Run for a Cure, a 5K, 10K and kids' fun run in which residents can support cancer research and commemorate those with the disease. This year's event is Feb. 1.

VISIT the Imathlete site to sign up for the race>>

"Just honoring these people (cancer survivors) is where my heart and passion is," race director Daniel Richards said. "We try to put an emphasis on them." 

Participants can write loved ones' names on a colorful piece of duct tape and wear it throughout the event, he said. 

The Davidson Dash will include door prizes, a silent auction, kids' fun run, inflatable bounce house and refreshments.

Pre-registration entry for the 5K and 10K is $20; late entry and race-day registration cost $25. The kids' fun run is $10. And thanks to sponsors' support, 100 percent of registration fees go to the ACS, Richards said.

This is the sixth year for the event, and there will be more to come.

"I'm not going to stop doing it until we find a cure," Richards said. 

WANT TO G0?

WHAT:  Davidson Dash Run for a Cure 5K / 10K

WHEN:  8:30 a.m. Feb.1

WHERE: DavidsonMiddle School, 6261 Old Bethel Road, Crestview

COST: Pre-registration entry for the 5K and 10K is $20; late entry and race-day registration cost $25. The kids' fun run is $10.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown at 850-682-6524 or matthewb@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbMatthew.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Davidson's mission: raise more than $7K for cancer research

CRESTVIEW — Randolph Westphal wants people to know they should never give up.

The 55-year-old German — who passed through Crestview this week — bicycles through several countries, with help from his Siberian husky dogs, Chinook and Nanook, to prove there's always hope.

He should know; doctors diagnosed him with malignant melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer, in 1987. Since then, he has received 28 cancer-related surgeries; four were life threatening. On top of that, a 1996 hit-and-run nearly took his left leg and he had to use a wheelchair for a year. And he was hospitalized in August with a bacterial infection.

But all adversity fades quickly in the past when it's possible for Westphal to get back on the bike. He brings a message of endurance with people in cancer support groups, hospitals and universities.

"I just tell them my story," he said. "A lot of people find hope in a good story."  

Westphal purchased a car to assist in his travels, under doctor's advice. However, it has not deterred him from his life's mission: to raise worldwide awareness of perseverance.

The Quality Inn hotel, near the Interstate 10 exit in Crestview, provided a free room Monday night for Westphal and his 8- and 10-year-old dogs. Westphal said he lives on donations from people he meets.

Offering a complimentary room is highly irregular at the hotel, Quality Inn general manager Teresa Davis said.

However, "it was something that I felt like I needed to do," she said. "If I was in a similar situation, I would hope that I would have the same amount of determination he has shown."

Most people would be discouraged after learning that they have a terminal form of cancer, she said.   

"He has a strong will," she said.

Westphal plans to travel through south Florida, with stops in Panama City, Tallahassee, Tampa and Key West, before heading back to Canada.

Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: German bicyclist travels through Crestview during journey of hope