Revenue at Palmetto Health, a four-hospital system based in Columbia, S.C., increased 1.9% in the first nine months of its fiscal 2014, which ended June 30. The nationwide shift toward high-deductible health plans was a factor in lower commercially insured volumes and revenue, officials said.
Employers have increasingly shifted employees to consumer-directed health plans that offer lower monthly premiums but higher out-of-pocket costs. “We're seeing a lot of elective-type procedures that are being delayed,” said Ben Cunningham, Palmetto Health's vice president of finance.
