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Tag Archives: Health System
4 Tips for Keeping Politics Out of Staff Conversations
Avoiding divisive topics can help maintain workplace morale during a contentious election season—and afterward.
How Night Shifts Perpetuate Health Inequality
3 factors that will tank your workforce management
“No more overtime will be approved!” How many times have we heard declarations like this in an attempt to control labor costs? Considering that labor costs are a hospital’s largest expense exceeding 50% of their operating budgets, it’s no wonder that remarks like this are frequently heard. Healthcare providers have spent millions of dollars on analytics and other systems to find a way to get these costs under control. Yet, they still do not have clear insights into their labor costs and are unable to implement sustainable programs to manage and control costs. I’m going to look at three areas that limit a healthcare provider’s ability to manage their workforce in a way that optimizes labor, controls costs and drives outcomes.
Dignity Health, CHI Explore ‘Alignment’
Potential merger would create a one of the nation’s largest non-profit health systems, with more than 140 hospitals and hundreds of clinics and physicians’ offices in two dozen states.
Trinity Health revenue increases, but operating margin shrinks
Trinity Health saw revenue increase in fiscal year 2016, but higher expenses caused the Livonia, Mich.-based system’s operating margin to decline.
Trinity reported revenue of $16.3 billion in FY 2016, a 14 percent year-over-year increase from revenue of $14.3 billion in FY 2015, according to recently released audited financial documents.
Higher expenses offset the system’s revenue growth. Trinity reported operating expenses of $16.2 billion in FY 2016, up 16.7 percent from FY 2015. The system’s acquisitions of Syracuse, N.Y.-based based Saint Joseph’s Hospital Health Center and Hartford, Conn.-based Saint Francis Care accounted for $1.4 billion, or 10.3 percent, of the year-over-year growth in expenses. Trinity also reported higher costs related to salaries and wages, supplies and purchased services.
The system ended FY 2016 with operating income of $46.4 million, down from $457.7 million in the year prior. Excluding asset impairment charges and a premium revenue adjustment, Trinity recorded operating income of $151.3 million in FY 2016, down from operating income of $470 million in FY 2015. Trinity recorded an operating margin of .9 percent in the most recent fiscal year, compared to an operating margin of 3.3 percent in FY 2015.
22 recent hospital outlook and credit rating actions
The key factors affecting 2017 hospital budgets from 2 CFOs
California hospital owner files for bankruptcy
http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/california-hospital-owner-files-for-bankruptcy.html
West Contra Costa Healthcare District, which owns shuttered Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo, Calif., filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection Oct. 20.
The healthcare district filed for bankruptcy after a hotel operator rescinded its offer to buy DMC’s campus, according to the East Bay Times.
DMC closed in April 2015 after years of financial struggles. The hospital primarily served low-income and uninsured populations in West Contra Costa County.
In January, the West Contra Costa Healthcare District board accepted Royal Guest Hotels’ offer to buy the majority of DMC’s campus. However, Eric Zell, hospital district board chairman, told the East Bay Times the hotel operator recently pulled its offer.
“With no chance to bring in revenue in the short term to cover existing district expenses, such as worker compensation claims and medical record storage, the district board voted unanimously to file for bankruptcy to allow for the orderly disposition of remaining financial obligations, including those owed to past district employees and vendors,” Mr. Zell said.
According to the bankruptcy petition, the healthcare district has at least $50 million in liabilities.
Royal Guest Hotels did not respond to the East Bay Times’ request for comment.
New era of healthcare fraud investigations puts spotlight on the C-suite
More and more, the government is holding individuals — not just the organizations they work for — responsible for fraud.
Traditionally, healthcare companies were only expected to provide information about the underlying factual situation in a fraud investigation. However, these investigations have become more complicated, as the Department of Justice has taken a strong stance on pursuing healthcare executives involved in fraud cases to hold them personally responsible.
Venson Wallin, managing director of BDO’s Healthcare Advisory practice, recently spoke withBecker’s Hospital Review about the shift in individual accountability standards and steps hospital and health system executives can take to protect themselves from liability.
HENRY KOTULA 