Acquisition Costs, High Expenses Drag LifePoint's 3Q Profit Down 51%

LifePoint Hospitals said its third quarter profit fell 51 percent due to acquisition expenses, higher operating costs, lost revenue from Hurricane Isaac and experiences with Medicare Recovery Auditors.

LifePoint Hospitals is based in Brentwood, Tenn.Net income plunged from $38.8 million in the third quarter of 2011 to $19.2 million this year, prompting the Brentwood, Tenn.-based for-profit hospital operator to cut its forecast for the rest of the year.

LifePoint, which now operates 56 hospitals, said the drop in profit resulted from the following events: $6.2 million in transaction expenses associated with its acquisition of Marquette (Mich.) General Health System; $2.6 million in prior repayment obligations; $1.5 million in lost revenue associated with Hurricane Issac; and $4 million due to encounters with Medicare RACs.


"This was a challenging quarter for LifePoint," LifePoint CEO Bill Carpenter said in a news release. "Our financial results were adversely affected by specific costs associated with investments we made that are critical to future growth and by operational changes in our business…[but] we are confident our plan will deliver results and continue to generate value for our stockholders."

LifePoint's third-quarter revenue shot up 11 percent, however, from $739.2 million last year to $820.2 million this year. Overall expenses in the third quarter soared 16.7 percent. For the nine months ended Sept. 30, LifePoint's profit is down 7.7 percent and revenue is up 11.3 percent.

As for the company's same-hospital operating statistics in the third quarter, admissions fell 4.6 percent, equivalent admissions dropped 1.6 percent and inpatient surgeries fell 8.1 percent. However, LifePoint recorded higher revenues per equivalent admission due to a higher Medicare case mix index.

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