Category Archives: Uncategorized

Fitch issues negative outlook for nonprofit hospitals: 4 things to know

Posted on by • Posted in Uncategorized • Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , • Leave a comment

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/fitch-issues-negative-outlook-for-nonprofit-hospitals-4-things-to-know.html

Image result for negative hospital outlook

Fitch Ratings’ outlook on the nonprofit healthcare sector is negative for 2018, as the sector faces regulatory, political and competitive challenges.

Here are four things to know about Fitch’s outlook on the sector.

1. Fitch expects nonprofit hospitals and health systems’ profitability to continue to weaken over the next year. “Growth in Medicare and Medicaid volumes are weakening provider payer mixes at a time when providers are moving from volume-based reimbursement in greater numbers,” said Fitch Senior Director Kevin Holloran.

2. Fitch said several factors could adversely affect lower-rated hospitals’ operating performance in 2018, including growing pressure on salaries and continued erosion in payer mix.

3. The proposed tax overhaul bill, which would hamper nonprofit hospitals’ ability to issue tax-exempt revenue, could further pressure the industry, according to Fitch.

4. Although the nonprofit healthcare sector outlook is negative, Fitch maintained its stable outlook for ratings of healthcare issuers. “Fitch anticipates our revised criteria for the acute care sector will be published early next year, which should lead to an above-average, but still balanced, degree of rating movement during the year,” the debt rating agency said.

Paul Ryan says GOP aiming to cut Medicare, Medicaid spending

Posted on by • Posted in Uncategorized • Tagged , , , , • Leave a comment

https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/cms-chip/paul-ryan-medicare-medicaid-spending-cuts?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWXpZMk5qaGtOVFkzWXpVNCIsInQiOiJrTmFEUmZER0J6WnNGSGNqcXpRWmI0cHNsbkxNZ3B1WU1Lb2dBZ0NIUGRISEZoOVEzeEhIMDUrczQwZ2hYWld2VW1SMk5EXC9tSk0wVk96QU9UUWFcL1JZZ093bHF2Mjh2RmpiaEU5enlyOEkzb2hKM0FZd3RMNVp3azhBV0Q3aVVnIn0%3D&mrkid=959610&utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

Image result for medicare cuts

In further proof that Republicans are not giving up their push to enact major changes to healthcare policy, House Speaker Paul Ryan has signaled that the party will focus on cutting Medicare and Medicaid spending next year.

“We’re going to get back, next year, at entitlement reform, which is how you tackle the debt and the deficit,” Ryan said during an interview with conservative talk show host Ross Kaminsky.

In addition to welfare, it’s the “healthcare entitlements”—Medicare and Medicaid—that are the major targets, Ryan said, reasoning that they are some of the biggest drivers of national debt, alongside military spending.

As evidenced by a 2015 tweet, President Donald Trump pledged as a candidate not to cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid, but the GOP’s legislative attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act would have slashed Medicaid funding drastically.

Both the president and GOP lawmakers have pledged to revisit that legislation in 2018, and Ryan noted he’s making headway with convincing Trump to back Medicare cuts.

“I think the president’s understanding [that] choice and competition works everywhere in healthcare, especially in Medicare,” he said.

But while Ryan contended that entitlement reform was the logical next step after passing a tax bill that reduces revenue, Democrats don’t see it that way. They argue that Republicans only want to cut key government programs to make up for the fact that their tax bill is estimated to increase the deficit by at least $1 trillion over a decade.

Republicans’ tax bill will also have healthcare policy implications. The Senate’s version of the bill repeals the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, and House conservatives have said they want that provision to make it into the final draft of the legislation.

Dignity Health, CHI Announce Major Merger Deal

Posted on by • Posted in Uncategorized • Tagged , , , • Leave a comment

http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/leadership/dignity-health-chi-announce-major-merger-deal?spMailingID=12518385&spUserID=MTY3ODg4NTg1MzQ4S0&spJobID=1300681161&spReportId=MTMwMDY4MTE2MQS2#

Related imageRelated image

After a year of negotiations, Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives have signed a definitive agreement to merge operations.

The new, as-yet unnamed health system will be one of the largest in the nation, including more than 700 care sites and 139 hospitals, approximately 159,000 employees and more than 25,000 physicians and other advanced practice clinicians.

 

Hospital Market Consolidation

Posted on by • Posted in Uncategorized • Tagged , , , , , , , , • Leave a comment

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-management-administration/54-health-systems-with-the-most-hospitals.html

Image result for hospital consolidation

The following health systems contain the most short-term acute care hospitals in the United States.

The number of short-term acute care hospitals is based on data from the American Hospital Directory, which is based on hospitals’ CMS cost reports. Data was accessed Dec. 4. The list includes nonprofit, public and for-profit organizations. There are 54 organizations listed here; numbering does not serve as a ranking or reflect ties in the number of hospitals.

Note: Figures reflect facilities that fall under the category of “short term acute care” as defined by CMS. Numbers do not include psychiatric, rehabilitation, children’s, critical access, long-term or “other” types of hospitals, and may differ from systems’ marketing materials.

1. HCA Healthcare (Nashville, Tenn.) — 174
2. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (Washington, D.C.) — 143
3. Community Health Systems (Franklin, Tenn.) — 119
4. Ascension Health (St. Louis) — 78
5. Tenet Healthcare (Dallas) — 59
6. LifePoint Health (Brentwood, Tenn.) — 45
7. Trinity Health (Livonia, Mich.) — 44
8. Prime Healthcare Services (Ontario, Calif.) — 42
9. Providence Health & Services (Renton, Wash.) — 41
10. Kaiser Permanente (Oakland, Calif.) — 39
11. Dignity Health (San Francisco) — 36
12. Catholic Health Initiatives (Englewood, Colo.) — 34
13. Steward Health Care System (Boston) — 32
14. Adventist Health System (Winter Park, Fla.) — 31
15. Indian Health Service (Rockville, Md.) — 31
16. UPMC (Pittsburgh) — 29
17. Universal Health Services (King of Prussia, Pa.). — 28
18. Christus Health (Irving, Texas) — 26
19. Quorum Health (Brentwood, Tenn.) — 26
20. Sutter Health (Sacramento, Calif.) — 26
21. Baylor Scott & White Health (Dallas) — 20
22. Banner Health (Phoenix) — 19
23. Mercy Health (Cincinnati) — 18
24. SSM Health (St. Louis) — 18
25. Intermountain Healthcare (Salt Lake City) — 17
26. Mercy (Chesterfield, Mo.) — 17
27. UnityPoint Health (Des Moines, Iowa) — 17
28. Northwell Health (Great Neck, N.Y.) — 16
29. Prospect Medical Holdings (Los Angeles) — 15
30. Adventist Health (Roseville, Calif.) — 14
31. Centura Health (Englewood, Colo.) — 14
32. Aurora Health Care (Milwaukee) — 13
33. BayCare Health System (Clearwater, Fla.) — 13
34. Franciscan Health (Mishawaka, Ind.) — 13
35. Memorial Hermann (Houston) — 13
36. Texas Health Resources (Arlington) — 13
37. Ardent Health Services (Nashville, Tenn.) — 12
38. Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp. (Memphis) — 12
39. Cleveland Clinic — 12
40. Duke LifePoint (Brentwood, Tenn.) — 12
41. Hospital Sisters Health System (Springfield, Ill.) — 12
42. Sentara Healthcare (Norfolk, Va.) — 12
43. Bon Secours Health System (Marriottsville, Md.) — 11
44. Carolinas HealthCare System (Charlotte, N.C.) — 11
45. Hackensack Meridian Health (Edison, N.J.) — 11
46. Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.) — 11 (includes short-term acute care hospitals in Rochester, Phoenix and Jacksonville, Fla., as well as those part of Mayo Clinic Health System)
47. McLaren Health Care (Flint, Mich.) — 11
48. NYC Health + Hospitals (New York City) — 11
49. Presence Health (Chicago) — 11
50. RWJBarnabas Health (West Orange, N.J.) — 11
51. Advocate Health Care (Downers Grove, Ill) — 10
52. Allina Health (Minneapolis) — 10
53. Novant Health (Winston-Salem, N.C.) — 10
54. University Hospitals (Cleveland) — 10

 

Los Angeles hospital closes, lays off all 638 employees

Posted on by • Posted in Uncategorized • Tagged , , , , , , , , , , • Leave a comment

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/los-angeles-hospital-closes-lays-off-all-638-employees.html

Image result for Pacific Alliance Medical Center

 

Pacific Alliance Medical Center in Los Angeles, which provided care for more than 150 years, closed Nov. 30.

The hospital, which was originally slated to close Dec. 11, cited the costs of retrofitting its facilities to meet California’s seismic standards as the reason for the closure. The hospital said it lacked a financially responsible way to make the required updates.

“PAMC does not own the land on which our hospital sits, and the owner is unwilling to sell the land to us,” the hospital said in a statement to Becker’s Hospital Review in October. “The hospital building does not meet current California seismic standards, and it is not economically viable for us to invest nearly $100 million to build a hospital on land that we would not own.”

A California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice dated Oct. 9 indicated all 638 of the hospital’s employees would be laid off when the hospital shut down. The hospital confirmed that number in its closure announcement.

In addition to the challenges related to the seismic requirements, Pacific Alliance Medical Center faced a few other major hurdles in the months leading up to its closure. In June, the hospital and its parent company agreed to pay $42 million to resolve allegations they violated the False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law. The companies allegedly had improper financial relationships with certain physicians and billed Medicare and California’s Medicaid program for services provided to patients referred to Pacific Alliance Medical Center. In August, the hospital announced it was recovering from a ransomware attack that compromised the protected health information of 266,123 patients.

Broward Health counter-sues former CEO: 5 things to know

Posted on by • Posted in Uncategorized • Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , • Leave a comment

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/legal-regulatory-issues/broward-health-counter-sues-former-ceo-5-things-to-know.html

Image result for conflicts of interest

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Broward Health’s ex-CEO Pauline Grant sued her former employer in December 2016. The health system fired back in a counter-suit filed Dec. 1, alleging Ms. Grant violated the Anti-Kickback Statute.

Here are five things to know about the litigation.

1. North Broward Hospital District, which does business as Broward Health, claims Ms. Grant violated the system’s code of conduct by serving as secretary of the board of directors of a long-term care provider that had contracts with Broward Health, according to the Sun Sentinel.

2. The health system alleges Ms. Grant’s position on the board violated the terms of a corporate integrity agreement the hospital district entered into with the federal government in 2015. The agreement was put into place after Broward Health paid $69.5 million in September 2015 to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by holding improper financial relationships with physicians.

3. Broward Health also claims Ms. Grant violated the Anti-Kickback Statute while she was CEO of Broward Health North in Deerfield Beach, Fla., one of the health system’s six hospitals.

4. Broward Health’s board voted 4-1 on Dec. 1, 2016, to fire Ms. Grant. The board voted to remove Ms. Grant from her position after an independent counsel review showed potential violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute. A subsequent independent investigation found Ms. Grant “ran afoul” of federal anti-kickback law when awarding emergency room contracts to orthopedic physicians seeking to participate in Broward Health North’s on-call emergency department rotation.

5. Following her ouster, Ms. Grant sued Broward Health, accusing the system’s general counsel and four board members of violating the Florida open-meetings law to bring about her termination.