Patients Over Profit: The Rebellion

Daniel Kim peered into the greedy, uncaring faces of each board member gathered around the table. He hated these meetings. He hated these people. And while they had hired him as a hospital liaison, six years ago, he knew they all hated him as much as he hated them.

At first he’d been with them. His reception by doctors and nurses at the hospitals he met with was icy at best, but it hadn’t taken long for Daniel to see how much the actions of his employers impacted the hospital staff and trickled down to the patients. He had tried for years now to explain that good care up front cost less than emergency care later, but his admonitions and pleadings fell on deaf ears. It hadn’t taken long to figure out that his position was more about being able to say they had a liaison than it was about improvement of care.

“Are you listening, Kim?”

Daniel flinched at the sound of Brian Grayson’s voice slicing through his thoughts. The VP leaned back in his chair, his gold cufflinks glinting under the fluorescent lights. He smirked—the kind of smirk you might give to someone you thought couldn’t keep up. The room was cold, sterile, like the decisions being made inside it.

“We’re cutting reimbursement rates for in-network care,” Brian repeated, enunciating each word as if explaining to a child. His fingers drummed the table in a staccato rhythm, filling the silence that followed.

“When’s the last time you stepped foot in a hospital, Brian?” Daniel asked.

Brian wrinkled his face. “I hate hospitals. That’s why we send you.”