Veterans Memorial Hospital reports $63,346 June profit

by Brianne Eilers

The month of June ended on a positive note for Veterans Memorial Hospital (VMH), with a net income of $63,346. VMH completed its audit last week. VMH Administrator Mike Myers noted that after visiting with the auditors, he expects the year-to-date net income figure of $374,789 to be bumped up a bit to somewhere just below $400,000.
"Obviously a good fiscal year," Myers said. Looking at year-to-date statistics, acute patient days were exactly where they were last June. Skilled patient days were up 4.4%, and deliveries were up 9.6%. Total surgeries were down 4.8%, and Myers noted that last year was "a pretty spectacular year" in terms of the amount of surgeries performed at VMH. Outpatient lab was up 10%. Outpatient physical therapy was up 22.7%; however Myers noted that due to the fact that many things must be pre-authorized right now, they are seeing a decrease physical therapy numbers.
Emergency room visits were up 4%. Gross patient revenue was down $3.4%, but expenses were also kept down by 2%. Myers noted that they should end the year with a 2.6% profit margin, and the hospital had budgeted for a 2.5% profit margin. The number of days in accounts receivable is at 82.8, but Myers said that he thought that number has "come down significantly" in the last couple of weeks.
"The month of July has been extremely slow," Myers said. He added that while July has been slow, it has given staff a good opportunity to learn to use the newly installed electronic medical records system. VMH is just over three weeks into the new system, and Myers said they have been working with the company to make changes to the program to make it more proficient for them. "The thing that amazes me is the dedicated effort of everybody, from the providers to our staff, have made in implementing this," Myers noted, even though there have been frustrations at times.
Myers also reported that VMH's focus on wellness has yielded results, and helped them to get a better benefit renewal rate on insurance. Myers said they are continuing to look at ways to promote wellness for the hospital's employees, with the end result being to help keep insurance premium increases as low as possible.
VMH will be purchasing a new anesthesia machine out of its contingency funds. The other machine was somewhere between 10 to 15 years old, and after weighing the options between trying to find parts and repair the old one, it was decided that the better decision would be to purchase a new one. The cost of the new machine is expected to be just under $100,000. VMH will begin more HIPPA training after  everyone is comfortable using the new electronic medical records program, focusing on the importance of protecting privacy. VMH has also purchased a people reach system, which will be used in the event of a disaster to reach staff. The system will send texts, emails or phone calls until the person responds. Myers noted that this will be a more effective method than a calling tree, and more people will be contacted in a shorter period of time.
VMH has been using nitrous oxide for deliveries. This is a fairly new concept, and at this time, not many hospitals are using it yet. Myers noted that they have used for three or four patients and all physicians have been trained on it. Myers also said that the feedback has been positive. Also on the OB front, VMH is participating in a water birth study with Mayo Health System. The study, which involves three hospitals, is looking at the risks and benefits. Dr. David Schwartz is the lead person for VMH in that study. "It's exciting to be part of a study with Mayo Health System and we are interested to see the results," Myers said.