With a resolved antitrust case in its rearview mirror, Ohio-based ProMedica's operating surplus skyrocketed in fiscal 2014.
The health system's operating surplus surged 75.5% over 2013. Net patient revenue was also up, a 10.6% uptick over 2013.
Medicaid and Medicare payer mix remained the same as 2013, at 10% and 22%, respectively, even though the state of Ohio expanded Medicaid in January 2014.
Commercial and other payers, however, made up 48%, which is a 4% increase from 2013. Self-payers made up 20% in 2014, down from 24% in 2013.
The system also reduced its approximated cost of charity care provided, from $30.2 million in 2013 to $20.3 million in 2014.
The system appears to have rebounded from allegations that its 2010 hospital deal with St. Luke's violated anti-trust laws.
The Federal Trade Commission was investigating whether the deal would diminish competition and ultimately cost consumers.
Before closing the transaction, ProMedica and St. Luke's entered into a “hold separate agreement” that prohibited ProMedica from terminating St. Luke's contracts with managed-care organizations, eliminating or transferring the hospital's clinical services or firing its employees without cause.
The FTC filed its administrative complaint against the merger several months later, and the deal was struck down in December 2011. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the FTC's order in April 2014. A year later, the Supreme Court denied ProMedica's request to review the case.
The case was just one example of providers looking to expand and consolidate through mergers and acquisitions. Many claim the deals are the only way to meet the demands of the Affordable Care Act, which mandates delivering coordinated care, improving patient quality and reducing healthcare costs.
ProMedica still hopes to work out a divestiture plan with Maumee, Ohio-based St. Luke's, but that plan is under development and the system can't discuss any further details of the case until the plan is completed and approved by the FTC, said Jen Sorgenfrei, ProMedica's media relations manager.
So confident is the company in its future that it plans to move ahead with the largest construction project in its history, a $350 million, 302-bed replacement tower on the shared campus of ProMedica Toledo Hospital and ProMedica Toledo Children's Hospital.
The 13-story tower, which will replace a nearly 90-year-old facility, is expected to open in 2019.
