Shares of for-profit hospital companies have been sinking in the past month due mostly to lower-than-expected earnings in the first quarter of this calendar year, but an analyst at global investment banking firm Jefferies says the quarter is likely an aberration, according to a Nashville Business Journal report.
The nine major for-profit hospital chains recorded combined profit of $527.4 million in the most recent quarter — a large sum of money to be sure, but it was lower than investors had expected. Every company recorded lower inpatient volumes, and many others recorded lower surgery figures as well.
However, Brian Tanquilut, an analyst at Jefferies who follows the for-profit hospital sector, told the Nashville Business Journal that Wall Street and investors did not factor in two calendar items that altered patient volumes: the 2012 leap year and Easter and Passover falling earlier in the year. He also said bad weather contributed to lower operating statistics.
Companies also said lower profit totals were influenced by last year's industry settlement with HHS and CMS, which compensated 2,200 hospitals that were underpaid from the Medicare inpatient prospective payment system from 1999 to 2011.
The nine major for-profit hospital chains recorded combined profit of $527.4 million in the most recent quarter — a large sum of money to be sure, but it was lower than investors had expected. Every company recorded lower inpatient volumes, and many others recorded lower surgery figures as well.
However, Brian Tanquilut, an analyst at Jefferies who follows the for-profit hospital sector, told the Nashville Business Journal that Wall Street and investors did not factor in two calendar items that altered patient volumes: the 2012 leap year and Easter and Passover falling earlier in the year. He also said bad weather contributed to lower operating statistics.
Companies also said lower profit totals were influenced by last year's industry settlement with HHS and CMS, which compensated 2,200 hospitals that were underpaid from the Medicare inpatient prospective payment system from 1999 to 2011.
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