List date(s) this work was published or aired.
March 15, 2012 and May 31, 2012
Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Payers & Providers examined the business practices of Jeannette Y. Martello, M.D., a reconstructive surgeon who served as an on-call physician at various hospital emergency rooms in the Los Angeles area. Martello, who also holds a law degree from UC Berkeley, frequently sued her patients and their family members after rendering care. She claimed they owed her additional money. Whether or not they had insurance made no difference, even though this practice of balance billing has been illegal in California for several years. Martello became the first and only physician ever to be ordered by regulators to cease and desist balance billing of patients — an order that she ignored. The state of California eventually had to sue Martello to get her to stop dunning and suing her patients. Many patients and their family members interviewed by Payers & Providers claimed they had been doubly traumatized by being hauled into court after suffering terrible injuries or seeing their loved ones be injured. In an attempt to explain Martello’s actions, Payers & Providers also examined the issues surrounding compensation for on-call emergency room physicians. It also examined the lack of protections offered by hospitals whose patients had been sued by Martello.
Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Payers & Providers discovered Martello’s case after submitting a California Public Records Act request regarding disciplinary actions taken by the Department of Managed Health Care, a state regulatory agency that typically monitors health plans, but also serves as a mediator in balance billing disputes. The request, California’s equivalent of the Freedom of Information Act, came after the agency had abruptly halted the public posting of disciplinary actions it had taken. It turned out this was due to its accidental exposure of private information regarding patients, requiring a revamp of how it posted such documents. The documentation regarding Martello was never publicly posted even after the DMHC resolved its own data issues, so it is unlikely Payers & Providers would have found this case without making the official request for records. In addition to the DMHC documentation, Payers & Providers also extensively researched the lawsuits filed by Martello against her patients and business associates. The courthouse databases for four California counties were used to compile data on the lawsuits. Liens she filed against defendants were also researched. In one instance this led to the interview of a Steve Avina, a patient of hers whom could not be otherwise located. The ProQuest Newsstand database was used to gather background articles, while the California State Bar directory, USA Residential Records database, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn were used to locate defendants and attorneys involved in Martello’s lawsuits. In addition, the Medical Board of California website was used to research the disciplinary actions against Martello. A wide-ranging search of the Internet about Martello yielded legal actions she took in other states, including an arbitration case she filed against a Dallas physician when he declined to sell her the Internet domain for his medical practice for a token sum. Visits were also made to the Pasadena, California courthouse, where Martello often filed suits, as well as to her medical practice in South Pasadena, California, the legal practice of attorney David Cohen, and Joseph Benincasa, one of Martello’s patients and defendants.
Explain types of human sources used.
An effort was made to track down every single defendant named in Martello’s lawsuits. That included her patients, her business associates and their family members. Many consented to interviews, along with their attorneys, who also provided additional documentation. State regulators and prosecutors were also interviewed, along with officials at the hospitals where Martello had privileges. Industry observers with expertise in hospital, emergency room and consumer practices were also interviewed in an attempt to discern the levels of compensation Martello received for providing care and what may have motivated her to seek more money. Off-the-record interviews with courthouse employees and even a judge provided invaluable information as to Martello’s demeanor and how she interacted with other people in the legal profession.
Results:
An exacting portrait emerged of a highly educated but distinctively rogue physician. Her failed quest to become a celebrity doctor apparently curdled into legal vendettas waged against her patients. On August 17, 2012, the Los Angeles Times ran a front page story on Martello and her business practices. It specifically cited the prior coverage by Payers & Providers and editor Ron Shinkman.
Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No corrections have been requested or required. Martello has not filed a lawsuit.
Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Do not be intimidated by a seemingly intimidating figure. Martello contacted the Payers & Providers offices asking where she could “serve papers” after its initial coverage was published in March 2012. This prompted additional digging. As a result, Payers & Providers unearthed the dozens of lawsuits she had filed against her patients.