Samaritan projected to finish 2017 in the black

MOSES LAKE — Revenues dropped during October at Samaritan Hospital, but appear to have rebounded in November. At the end of October Samaritan Healthcare was still ahead of its budget target for net revenue. Chief financial officer Alex Town reviewed the financial report at the regular meeting of hospital district commissioners Dec. 19.

The final financial statement for November wasn’t available for the commission meeting, but Town provided some tentative results. The hospital apparently beat its budget target in November, ending the month with an estimated $983,430 profit. For the year through the end of November, the hospital had generated about $3.7 million in net income.

With about a week to go, “December 2017 looks very well for revenue. So long as expenses are within budget, December 2017 will also be a good month for Samaritan financially,” Town wrote.

Town said patient revenue before expenses was below the budget target in October. “A good portion of that was due to outpatient surgeries. We had a provider that was out, and that really impacted the outpatient surgical revenue.”

Total hospital admissions for the year at the end of October were above the same period in 2016, 906 patients in 2017 compared to 783 patients for the same period in 2016. Obstetrics admissions are higher than the same period in 2016 also, 907 patients through the end of October 2017, compared to 881 patients through the end of October 2016. Primary care visits to Samaritan Clinic were higher also, 19,143 through October 2017 compared to 16,176 in the same period in 2016.

Emergency room visits were up, 16,913 through October 2017, compared to 15,194 through October 2016. Bad debt and charity care were lower than budget targets in October, and due to the kind of insurance carried by patients, reimbursement was up.

Hospitals don’t always get paid for the cost of a given procedure, depending on the patient’s insurance. That gap is called “contractual adjustments.” Town said the hospital’s auditor determined the hospital was overestimating that gap. “We actually were writing off more than we should.”

But more business means more expenses, and expenses were over budget. Hospital officials have hired temporary personnel to fill gaps, and have had to pay overtime as well. There were extra expenses in the lab department, and legal fees were higher than budgeted due to union negotiations.