Hospitals Losing Money, Thanks To Covid-Driven Cost Increases

Bloomberg: Why Are Some Hospitals Losing Money? Covid Pushes Up Labor Costs
Hospitals are starting to emerge from the worst of Covid-19, but one consequence has persisted: They still have to pay workers more. HCA Healthcare Inc. and Universal Health Services Inc., two of the largest U.S. for-profit hospital chains, each warned this month that the price of labor could continue to eat into their profits. While executives say costs should eventually subside as Covid dies down, by how much and when remains to be seen. (Court and Coleman-Lochner, 4/27)

Bay Area News Group: Travel Nurse Agencies Cash In On Stanford Strike And Pandemic
“Turn Your Nursing Passion into Profit. Contact Us Today!” The recruitment plea from an employment agency called HSG Strike Staffing was one of many that attracted thousands of replacement nurses to fill positions left empty this week by the first nursing strike at Stanford Hospital in two decades. Crossing the picket lines comes with the promise of up to $13,000 a week in salary plus free food, housing and transportation. And the staffing agencies that hire them, increasingly owned by private equity firms, are reporting record profits. The traveling nurses industry, fueled by labor unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic, has turned hospital staffing into a national bidding war, with health care facilities paying outside agencies exorbitant rates to secure help. (Krieger, 4/27)

In other corporate news —

Modern Healthcare: Humana Records $930M Quarterly Profit As Medicare Advantage Rolls Grow 5%
Humana ended the first quarter of 2022 with $930-million in earnings, a 12% increase from the prior-year period, the health insurance company announced Wednesday. Revenue rose 16% during the first three months of the year to $24 billion, compared to $20.7 billion during the first quarter of 2021, the company disclosed. Medicare Advantage membership increased 5.2% to 5.1 million during the quarter. The company, the second-largest Medicare Advantage carrier, projects its Medicare Advantage rolls will grow by 150,000 to 200,000 this year. (Christ, 4/27)

Modern Healthcare: Teladoc Shares Plunge After Earnings Report
Teladoc Health lowered its full-year revenue guidance by $150 million, citing higher-than-expected ad spending and increased competition in mental health and chronic care markets. The disclosure came as the telehealth company announced a sizable first-quarter loss Wednesday after the market closed. In after-hours trading, shares fell as much as 38% from the market close of $55.99 a share. Teladoc said it expected to report annual revenue of $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion, down from a previous forecast of $2.55 billion to $2.65 billion. For the quarter, the company reported a net loss of $6.7 billion, compared with a loss of $199.6 million in the year-ago period. (Kim Cohen, 4/27)

Modern Healthcare: Centene To Cut More Than Half Of Its Leased Real Estate Footprint
Centene Corp. will shed more than half of its U.S. leased real estate space as part of its ongoing "value creation plan. "More than 90% of the company's workforce has worked remotely during the pandemic and last year, Centene expanded its permanent and hybrid remote work options after receiving positive feedback from employees, the company previously said. During the insurer's first-quarter earnings call Tuesday, CEO Sarah London said the plan to cut more than half of its leased space followed those trends. (Tepper, 4/26)

Crain's Chicago Business: Illinois Regulators Approve Controversial Hospital Project
A controversial proposal for a new hospital in downstate Quincy was approved by the Illinois Health Facilities & Services Review Board on Tuesday. The board is allowing Quincy Medical Group to move forward with building a “small format” not-for-profit hospital, which the owners say will provide more innovative care and services not currently offered in the rural area. The facility will have 28 beds and cost about $61 million to build, according to board documents. It is expected to be completed in April 2026. The board also approved a separate $2 million, three-room, free-standing birthing center that QMG also proposed in Quincy. Both facilities will be built on the campus of the Quincy Town Center, which already houses the QMG Surgery Center and Cancer Institute. (Davis, 4/27)

Also —

Modern Healthcare: Epic Is Fastest-Growing EHR Among Hospitals, Report Shows
Epic Systems added more U.S. hospitals to its electronic health records software footprint than its competitors last year, according to a new report. A net 74 hospitals installed or signed contracts to install Epic's EHR platform in 2021, expanding its market share from 31% to 33%, KLAS Research's annual report on EHR market share found. It aggregated publicly available information, self-reported EHR vendor data and information from operators of acute-care, psychiatric, long-term acute care, rehabilitation and other specialty hospitals. More than 340 hospitals either purchased a new EHR system or migrated to a new version of their vendor's EHR product last year, up 44% from 2020, according to the report. Epic was the top choice for large organizations. Cerner was the favorite among smaller hospitals. (Kim Cohen, 4/26)

Billings Gazette: Health Care Students Start Free Foot Clinic For The Homeless
Health care students in Billings have partnered with the Community Crisis Center to offer free foot care clinics to the homeless. Physician’s assistant and occupational therapy students from Rocky Mountain College, nursing students with Montana State University and local medical students will give foot baths, exams and nail trimmings to those in need with preceptor supervision every Monday evening from 7 to 9 p.m. Called the Best Foot Forward (BFF) clinic, the student-run program operates under Gratitude in Action’s nonprofit status, ensuring a funding model and opens up the clinic to donations from the community, said third-year medical student Maclean Turner. (Schabacker, 4/27)

Stat: AI Can Predict Missed Appointments. How Can Hospitals Use That Data?
For every five appointments at Boston Children’s Hospital, one patient doesn’t show up. Missed appointments are a common problem at health systems. And they’re a particularly attractive target for machine learning researchers, who can use patient datasets to get a handle on what’s causing patients to miss out on needed care. In new research published this month, a group of researchers at Boston Children’s crunched more than 160,000 hospital appointment records from almost 20,000 patients for clues. Their model found patients who had a history of no-shows were more likely to miss future appointments, as were patients with language barriers and those scheduled to see their provider on days with bad weather. (Ravindranath, 4/28)