That was the dark nickname insiders gave to a specific set of DSRIP metrics. DSRIP—the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment program—was New York State’s billion-dollar bet to force failing safety-net hospitals to collaborate with community clinics. The rule was simple: Hospitals earned money not by admitting people, but by preventing admissions.
Her boss, the CMO, called it "pragmatic compliance." Carmen called it lying. But every time she "cleaned" an Angel, the hospital received a DSRIP check. That check paid for Mr. Vega’s actual heart medication. It paid for the volunteer nurse’s bus fare. It funded the shelter’s new air conditioner. dirty angels dsrip
And the angels, for all their bureaucratic wings, could only fly because someone was willing to get them dirty. That was the dark nickname insiders gave to
She turned a dirty, chaotic human life into a pristine "Angel." Her boss, the CMO, called it "pragmatic compliance
Carmen’s screen glowed with the case of a man she’d code-named "Mr. Vega." Mr. Vega had congestive heart failure. According to the DSRIP "Angel" metric, if he went 90 days without being hospitalized, his primary care clinic earned a $5,000 performance bonus.
The auditor grunted and moved on. The DSRIP payment went through. Mr. Vega got a housing voucher three weeks later (paid for by a different program).