First-quarter profit at LifePoint Hospitals dropped 42.4 percent, from $56.1 million in 2012 to $32.4 million this year, but the Brentwood, Tenn.-based for-profit hospital company said the big decline was due to several factors, such as debt extinguishment and a favorable one-time settlement.
Last year, as a result of the "rural floor settlement," HHS and CMS compensated 2,200 hospitals that were underpaid from the Medicare inpatient prospective payment system from 1999 to 2011. LifePoint recognized $31.3 million of additional Medicare revenue in last year's first quarter and about $5.7 million of related costs.
LifePoint officials also said its first-quarter profit this year was impacted by $4.4 million of debt extinguishment costs and $3.2 million of severance pay from administrative layoffs. Inpatient and outpatient surgeries were also down significantly in the first three months of 2013. Inpatient surgeries fell 10.2 percent, while outpatient surgeries dropped 6.9 percent.
LifePoint's revenue in the first quarter this year increased 9.4 percent to $931.1 million, thanks mostly to several transactions, such as its acquisition of Scott Memorial Hospital in Scottsburg, Ind., that went into effect. LifePoint has announced several other hospital acquisitions so far this year — Fauquier Health in Warrenton, Va., Bell Hospital in Ishpeming, Mich., and Portage Health in Hancock, Mich. — all of which still need to be finalized.
Last year, as a result of the "rural floor settlement," HHS and CMS compensated 2,200 hospitals that were underpaid from the Medicare inpatient prospective payment system from 1999 to 2011. LifePoint recognized $31.3 million of additional Medicare revenue in last year's first quarter and about $5.7 million of related costs. LifePoint officials also said its first-quarter profit this year was impacted by $4.4 million of debt extinguishment costs and $3.2 million of severance pay from administrative layoffs. Inpatient and outpatient surgeries were also down significantly in the first three months of 2013. Inpatient surgeries fell 10.2 percent, while outpatient surgeries dropped 6.9 percent.
LifePoint's revenue in the first quarter this year increased 9.4 percent to $931.1 million, thanks mostly to several transactions, such as its acquisition of Scott Memorial Hospital in Scottsburg, Ind., that went into effect. LifePoint has announced several other hospital acquisitions so far this year — Fauquier Health in Warrenton, Va., Bell Hospital in Ishpeming, Mich., and Portage Health in Hancock, Mich. — all of which still need to be finalized.
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