University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia credits its acquisition of nonprofit health system Lancaster (Pa.) General Health for a significant rise in charity care, according to a report on Philly.com.
Here are five things to know.
1. Charity care provided by the University of Pennsylvania Health System, commonly known as Penn Medicine, more than doubled in fiscal year 2016, which ended June 30, according to the article.
2. This increase is attributed to LG Health, which Penn Medicine acquired last year. Without LG Health, Penn had the lowest percent of charity care relative to patient revenue in FY 2016 among tax-exempt health systems in Southeastern Pennsylvania focusing on adults, according to the report.
3. In FY 2016, LG Health provided slightly more than $8 million worth of charity care out of Penn Medicine's $16.3 million total, according to the report. In terms of net patient revenue, LG Health accounted for just $912.3 million of Penn Medicine's $5.3 billion, the report states.
4. The report cites an audited financial statement showing that Penn Medicine reported $7 million in charity care costs in FY 2015.
5. Penn spokeswoman Susan Phillips said in the report that Penn Medicine's charity care is impacted by its efforts to enroll uninsured patients in Medicaid, which decreases charity care, and by its strict accounting for charity care costs. She also noted in the report that the amount of charity care "dramatically varies by service."
More articles on healthcare finance:
Trinity Health gets $299M revenue boost from acquisitions
UHS loses 20% of its market cap after BuzzFeed investigative report
11 latest hospital credit rating downgrades