New York City-based NYC Health + Hospitals reported that it has made significant financial progress and is on target with savings and revenue goals for fiscal year 2019.
Mitch Katz, MD, president and CEO of the public health system, gave the report in his March 25 preliminary budget testimony before the New York City Council.
Seven takeaways:
1. Dr. Katz said NYC Health + Hospitals is on track to achieve $757 million in revenue-generating initiatives and $430 million in expense-reducing initiatives in fiscal year 2019, as planned.
2. In the first two quarters of fiscal year 2019, patient care revenue increased $80 million compared to the same period a year prior. Dr. Katz attributed the growth to improved billing and better performance in the system's value-based managed care contracts.
3. Overall, NYC Health + Hospitals reported revenue that is $10 million below the initial goal of $2.839 billion for this year's budget.
4. Dr Katz told the New York City Council: "We have many important revenue initiatives just getting off the ground, and we expect our Epic electronic health record and financial system — which is coming on line across all our hospitals this year — to significantly improve our revenue going forward."
5. Regarding expenses, NYC Health + Hospitals reported that the system was less than $25 million over the goal of $3.411 billion for this year's budget.
6. Dr. Katz said the higher-than-projected expenses were due to investments in improving patient care and in bringing in revenue. These included hiring 340 nurses and 174 revenue staff, reducing reliance on temporary workers, eliminating consultants and cutting managerial-level staff.
7. NYC Health + Hospitals reported that it is also helping more people get insurance coverage in the system's facilities through the New York City's Get Covered initiative and MetroPlus Health, the city's public option. Dr. Katz said the number of insurance applications has increased by 20 percent, to 23,000 per month, and is expected to generate nearly $40 million in extra revenue this year.
More articles on healthcare finance:
Medical billing could be ripe opportunity for Apple: 4 notes
Demand for uncompensated care would jump 82% if ACA repealed, study finds
Providers of healthcare revenue recovery services unify under one brand: Revecore