Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad Health spent millions on a transition to Epic's EHR in the quarter ended Dec. 31, which added to its operating loss in the quarter, according to recently released financial documents.
The 21-hospital system recorded revenue of $485.6 million in the second quarter of fiscal year 2021, a decrease of 9.4 percent from the same quarter one year prior. Net patient service revenue declined in the second quarter of fiscal 2021 to $464.6 million, down from $515.7 million in the same period one year prior.
Expenses declined 3.4 percent to $507.1 million in the three-month period ended Dec. 31. Ballad Health also said it incurred $11.3 million in expenses for its EHR implementation in the quarter and saw $23.9 million in incremental expenses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ballad Health said it completed its transition to Epic at all 21 hospitals Oct. 1 and has seen no disruption to its net revenue related to the EHR conversion.
After factoring in expenses from the EHR conversion and COVID-19 pandemic, Ballad recorded an operating loss of $49.2 million in the second quarter ended Dec. 31. This compares to an operating gain of $8 million recorded in the same period one year prior.
The health system also saw nonoperating gains of $95.1 million and received $1.3 million in grants from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act and $6.3 million in other relief funds in the second quarter of fiscal 2021.
After factoring in those nonoperating gains and relief aid, Ballad ended the second quarter of fiscal 2021 with a net income of $45.9 million. This is compared to 49.1 million recorded in the same quarter in fiscal 2020.
Access the full financial report here.