Jess took a glass of wine out to the patio to try to unwind. She breathed in the earthy smell of freshly cut grass and felt the gentle touch of a light breeze on her bare arms. She was tempted to go fiddle more with her garden, when Jim texted and said he was going to stop by on his way home.
As soon as Jess got a look at his face, she knew something was wrong. “Hi there. How are you? Tough day?” She poured him a glass of wine as he joined her near the patio table. His rigid body language did not invite a touch, nor did he reach for the wineglass, so she sat and waited.
“Not so much for me.” He seemed to search her face. “Must have been a rough one for you.”
“Did you get a call?”
“Yes, and it wasn’t pretty.”
“I bet not, and you weren’t the only one to get one.”
“Are you OK?”
“Yes, I’m fine. This isn’t the first time I’ve been subjected to someone’s misplaced anger.”
“I can’t believe it. Of course, I don’t believe any of what he said about you personally. But I also can’t believe that they’re in legal trouble.” He was pacing the length of the patio, lost in his own world.
“You know I can’t talk to you about this stuff, right?” she asked, but received no answer.
“You know this clinic was important to my practice, right?” His tone was soft, a bit condescending.
She paused, trying to decipher that comment. “Jim, this isn’t a good conversation to start.”
“You know these guys are MDs just trying to do their thing, and without a manager to do the business piece . . . they’re not trained to know this billing stuff. I’m not trained to know this billing stuff.” His voice was getting louder, and he now stood stock-still, facing her. “That they could be held accountable for billing irregularities and face legal consequences—it’s crap!”
How dare he bait me? she thought. She wouldn’t go there.
“I’m sorry that you got a phone call, and I’m sorry that this whole situation may be difficult for your own practice. But I’m not sorry to have been involved in assessing the practice and following the facts. That’s my job.”
She rose to walk the edge of the patio and give him a moment to settle down. When she returned, he was in full smolder.
“Do you realize that Personne has probably lost his livelihood? Here’s a guy in his midfifties facing legal trouble when he should be winding down to retirement. This isn’t fair!” He started to pace again.
She silently counted to ten, then sat and poured herself more wine. “Overbilling Medicare is not a victimless crime,” she said coolly. “And physician leaders have a fiduciary responsibility for overseeing their management. If they want to be business owners, they cannot default on that.”
He stopped an arm’s length from her, his voice now steely and low. “How could you see it only that way? How can you throw him under the bus? How can you live with yourself, having done that?”
Jess stood and walked away, trying to keep her trembling under control. She could hear the crunch of the gravel as he left the patio and headed for the front of the house.
Dusk had fallen, and it was chilly. She finished her wine, headed into the house, drew a hot bath, and soaked in it until she stopped shivering.
Was it really just this morning that he called me to tell me how amazing I am? she wondered. That certainly wasn’t what he was thinking about me tonight. But how much do I care?