Quorum Health's revenue increased year over year in the third quarter of 2019, but the Brentwood, Tenn.-based hospital operator ended the quarter with a net loss.
The 24-hospital system, a spinoff of Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, said operating revenues declined 8.8 percent year over year to $419.9 million. Same-facility net patient revenues declined 2.5 percent year over year.
Quorum said the decrease in same-facility patient revenues was partially attributable to a decline in collectability on self-pay accounts receivable due to deterioration of revenue cycle activities before transitioning those functions to R1 RCM. Quorum announced May 8 that it had tapped R1 RCM to provide end-to-end revenue cycle management services at its hospitals and outpatient centers in 14 states.
"The transition of our back-office functions to R1 RCM began October 1, 2019, and we have already begun to see improvement in many aspects of our revenue cycle activities," Quorum President and CEO Bob Fish said in an earnings release. "Going forward, we remain confident that R1 RCM will have a transformative impact on our business and the communities we serve."
Quorum recorded a 5.9 percent decrease in same-facility admissions in the third quarter of this year, and reported $6.6 million in costs associated with the closure of MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island, Ill. Quorum closed MetroSouth Sept. 30.
After factoring in operating expenses and one-time charges, Quorum ended the third quarter of 2019 with a net loss of $76 million, compared to a net loss of $54 million in the same period a year earlier.
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