Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp. in Memphis, Tenn., saw its operating loss widen year over year in fiscal 2014 as its expenses spiraled higher than expected and grew faster than revenue.
Baptist reported flat revenue of $1.9 billion (PDF) for the 12-month period ended Sept. 30, instead of the 6% increase it had budgeted. Its expenses, meanwhile, rose 11.8% instead of the 3.7% budgeted.
As a result, 14-hospital Baptist reported an operating loss of $299.7 million for the year compared to last year's $70.9 million operating loss. After adding in nonoperating gains, Baptist's net loss was $200.1 million in fiscal 2014 compared with a surplus of $20.5 million in fiscal 2013.
The financial filing did not include operating metrics. But for the first nine months of the year, Baptist had reported flat patient volume and lower revenue per discharge from a more adverse payer mix. Moreover, its costs per discharge increased faster than budgeted.
The system at the time also mentioned training costs associated with its EPIC electronic health-record system as well as the aging of accounts receivable and the loss of CMS outlier payments for the deterioration of its results.
Standard & Poor's in July downgraded the rating on Baptist's long-term debt (PDF) to A with a negative outlook from AA- with a stable outlook.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam this month proposed a private option for expanding Medicaid eligibility in the state by providing vouchers to low-income, employed individuals. If the plan is approved by the state Legislature and the CMS, hospitals could see up to 200,000 newly insured individuals but would also be on the hook to fund the state's portion of the program once the federal match drops below 100% in 2016.
Follow Beth Kutscher on Twitter: @MHbkutscher
