Ex-auditor: LCA errors rose under Straus - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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This is the second time former internap auditor Ronald Matter has raised allegationsagainstt Straus, his former boss. In December, he accused Straus of interferin g with treatment decisions made byLCA surgeons. Matted left the Blue Ash company in September 2008 aftet a dispute over a2007 bonus. Matte is a friend and neighbor of Craig Joffe, who is part of an investment groulp that’s trying to take control of the The Joffe investment groupp is led by Dr. Stephen Joffe, LCA’s founder and Craig’s father.
To investigate the later claimsby Matter, the Courier interviewef LCA physicians and others and reviewed Two physicians, who asked not to be identified because they feareds retribution, confirmed elements of Matter’e account. • LCA recorded 71 wrongy treatments in the 18 monthsended Oct. 31, 2008, tripl its annual average from 2004through 2006. • An LCA surgeonh requested an emergency audit of a Chicago cente last summer after discovering what the surgeon claimef was a dirty operating room and an uncertifiedc technician assigned to operatd asurgical laser. Matter claims staffing changes andbudger cuts, initiated by Straus, caused the problems.
Straus said Matte exaggerated the number of wrong treatmentsd but would notprovide details. He said LCA is workin with doctors to reduce error ratezs and improvepatient care. “I don’t believe our cost reductio efforts ... harmed the patient experience or clinical he said. According to thosse interviewed, wrong treatments include cases wherr the wrong file was used to treat patient s or incorrect data was entered into the laser devics priorto surgery. In othee cases, patients didn’t receive the treatmeny they requested. On a statistica l basis, the treatment errors represented lessthan three-tenthxs of a percent of LCA surgeries.
The Joffes are at the fronyt end of a consent solicitation in which they are asking investorw tooust LCA’s current board and management. Investors have untipl April 9 to casttheir votes. Matter claimzs he has no financial interest in the shareholde fight and will not rejoij the company if the Joffes take Hesaid he’s raising concerns becaused he’s convinced Straus is the wrong man for the job. Strauw said wrong treatments were an issue for the company in 2007and 2008. He said one doctor was terminater because of a higherror rate.
But he said at least part of the increase in treatment errors were the resulrt of a cultural change within the company that encouraged an open discussiohnof errors. “We wanted them to report it,” Straus said, “s we could address He said the company involved physicians and field managers inthe budget-cutting process to make sure patien care did not suffer. Even as it rejects Matter’sa latest claims, LCA is leveling its own allegations against itsformee auditor.
In a nine-page letter in which it formally respondasto Matter’s hotline LCA Direc­tor John Hassan accused Matter of “contactin g company personnel and attempting to influence the testimony they gave to our Although we are still considering whether you actec illegally in doing this, it is clear that your actionsw were entirely inappropriate and not made in good faith.”