DaVita Healthcare Partners' latest earnings report shows that the company was once again buoyed by its kidney-care division, with that unit picking up the slack from lesser-performing units.
The company's multispecialty medical group again performed worse than its kidney-care business, as was the case earlier this year.
Denver-based DaVita reported third-quarter net income of $215.9 million on $3.5 billion in revenue, compared with net income of $184.1 million on $3.3 billion in revenue during the prior-year period.
Looking back further, the company reported net income of $275.7 million on $10.2 billion in revenue for the nine months ended Sept. 30, compared with net income of $9.5 billion during the same period in 2014.
The number of daily dialysis treatments increased 4.2% year over year. The kidney-care division posted $462 million in income on $2.2 billion in revenue, compared with the year-ago period's $400 million in income on $2.1 billion in revenue.
DaVita's multispecialty medical group segment saw a 2.4% decrease in its membership, which it serves on a capitated basis. The division saw $83 million in income on $1 billion in revenue in this year's third quarter, compared with the comparable 2014 period's $47 million in income on $892 million in revenue.
The company raised the lower end of its 2015 outlook for its kidney-care division by $30 million. It is updating its consolidated operating income for 2015 to be in the range of $1.87 billion to $1.915 billion, raising the floor from $1.825 billion.
DaVita included a $495 million settlement from a whistle-blower lawsuit for the nine months ended Sept. 30. Whistle-blower Dr. Alon Vainer alleged that DaVita overbilled Medicare and Medicaid by charging the full amount for drugs that were only partly used and then discarded.
In September, DaVita announced that it will expand its international operations to Brazil, taking advantage of recent legislation opening the country's healthcare services to foreign companies. And in August, DaVita Kidney Care announced it is forming a joint venture kidney-care specialty hospital chain in northeastern China.
