Lebanon, N.H.-based Dartmouth-Hitchcock saw operating results improve in the first nine months of fiscal year 2018 after implementing a cost-reduction plan.
The nonprofit academic medical system reported operating income of $33.7 million for the nine months ended March 31. That's compared to a $24.4 million operating loss the system recorded in the same period a year prior, according to recent unaudited bondholder documents.
Dartmouth-Hitchcock largely attributed the $58.1 million turnaround to three key factors: a performance improvement plan rolled out in the fall of fiscal year 2017, which included freezing the system's employee pension plan and reductions in workforce expenses; an increase in case mix and appointments; and the closure of its ImagineCare health solution, which bled $5.3 million from operations through March 2017.
The system kept expenses in check at $1.5 billion in the most recent nine-month period, up less than 1 percent compared to the nine-month period in fiscal year 2017. Dartmouth-Hitchcock said increases in salary and supply costs were partially offset by a $21.2 million reduction from the frozen pension plans.
After including nonoperating gains, Dartmouth-Hitchcock ended the most recent nine-month period with net income of $45.6 million on revenues of $1.5 billion. That's up 31.7 percent from net income of $34.6 million on revenues of $1.5 billion reported in the same period a year prior.
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