Newman Regional Health Board of Trustees learned that the hospitals’ restructuring plan is working in the hospital’s favor during Wednesday afternoon’s monthly board meeting.
Holly French, the hospital’s chief executive officer, told board members that the average daily census of the hospital is up slightly at 47.6 and bad-debt expenses were down.
“That is our normal trend. I just didn’t expect to see it this year with the economy the way it is,” French said.
French said the net income for the month was $112,000 and there was a cash increase of $838,000. The hospital had expected a $861,795-cash decrease for the month.
In the fiscal update, French said there has been an improvement in the number of days accounts are in accounts receivable. There is a shorter turnaround time from discharge to final billing, French said. French thanked the physicians for that effort.
“We’re really seeing a difference,” she said.
While cash is on the increase for the hospital, the financial report reflected some negatives as well. Because of decreased patient days, in-patient revenues were below the budgeted amount by $951,312 and outpatient revenues were under budget by $112,372.
Don Bailey, chairman of the hospital’s finance committee, talked briefly about the possibility of forming Public Building Commission, which would save the hospital $300,000 a year in interest. He thanked Lyon County Commissioners, who must approve the move, for their time exploring the move. Later in the meeting, the board voted to unanimously support the concept.
Bailey also offered some numbers to the board. He said for the year of 2008, of every dollar billed up front, 46 percent were in contractual, which means it was discounted by Medicare, Medicaid or other insurance companies.
“We’re looking at 54 cents of that to operate on for every dollar (billed),” Bailey said.
In addition, the hospital had $2 million in charity care and another $2 million in bad debts.
“We have a challenge to start with on everything,” he said.
In other matters, the board received the audit report from John Wendling of Wendling Noe & Johnson.
Findings include:
F The hospital’s net assets decreased by $1,687,694 or 4.5 percent in 2008 as compared to an increase of $820,137 or 2.2 percent in 2007.
F The hospital reported an operating loss of $1,355,341 in 2008. This was a decrease of $2,247,610 from operating income of $892,269 reported in 2007.
F The audit report stated “the combined financial statements referred to... present fairly, in all material respects, the combined financial position of Newman Memorial County Hospital ... as of Dec. 31, 2008, and 2007 and the combined results of its operations, changes in its net assets and its cash flows for the years then ended.”
biggest_small_townKS (anonymous) says...
"In addition, the hospital had $2 million in charity care and another $2 million in bad debts"
Okay I must admit I am very confused. This implies that there was a total of 4 million dollars in billed care, that the hospital did not get paid for? I am misunderstanding this sentence?
What constitutes charity care exactly? Is this the care that is provided to the poor and destitute, the elderly, the uninsured or is this the care that is provided to Doctors, Nurses employees and their families of the local system?
The 2 million in bad debt. I assume this is an amount separate and apart from the "charity care"? Is this the amount of billings that went unpaid because people were unable to do so? Is this the amount that was left outstanding after the hospital ruined peoples credit and finally came to the realization that "you can't get blood from a turnip".
Which of these two figures or what total dollar amount is the figure for the services provided to illegal immigrants that use the emergency room exclusively and burden our nations health systems to the brink of extinction?
April 24, 2009 at 9:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gooseylucy (anonymous) says...
bstKS, Trust me, charity care most certainly does not apply to NRH nurses or employees!! They go after us and our families just like they do outsiders. I know this for a fact! Charity care and bad debt are 2 different things. And yes the hospital lost a total of 4 million between the 2 of them.
April 25, 2009 at 8:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
YaHooSis48 (anonymous) says...
Dear kssmalltown, I can assure you that Newman Regional Health does not "go after" anyone. If we can write off to charity we would much rather do this than purge the account by turning it to an outside collection agency. The accounts that end up in bad debt are the ones we cannot get to respond to us or supply us with documents that prove they are indeed needy. I am very proud of the Fiscal Services Dept because we are very sensitive to the mounting needs of our community and to those who are just passing thru. It has become very evident that needs are increasing. More people cannot afford health insurance or have recently lost jobs and have been placed in a position where they simply cannot pay for health insurance. NRH is there to treat these people and find funding for them. When all other resources have been exhausted we also offer Corefirst Bank loans with no application process. All of our patients qualify. Yes, we do have employees who qualify for charity care. All patients must meet the same criteria; regardless of who they are. We are constantly fitting the patient to the program that will benefit them best, whether that is thru the State of Kansas, Jones Foundation, a federal Trail Blazer Program, Charity write off or discount and for those who don't qualify we assist them with a Corefirst loan. I am thankful for the indigent programs NRH has for Emporia. I know first hand that I work with a great staff in Fiscal Services and Social Services to identify the patients who need our help. Our community hospital has never and will never turn any patient away. Our first concern is that person's well being,health and safety.
April 25, 2009 at 12:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gooseylucy (anonymous) says...
YaHooSis, I tend to disagree with you. NRH does "go after" people. They even "go after" their own employees and their families. I know. I've been there. As a NRH employee they turned me over to a collection agency for a very small bill that I did not even know I owed. All they had to do was call my extension, let me know and I would have paid it in full. And they also went after my son, who had a fairly large bill with them. He was a full-time student who only worked weekends and was un-able to pay his bill. He tried and tried to work out arrangements with them to no avail. They wanted him to make monthly payments of $350/month, but he could not do that. He told them he could only afford $100/month, but they would not accept that. They turned him over to their lawyer and he took my son's government school loan $!! They took over $3,000 of his loan $!! And the lawyer did not even let him know about it, until after it was done.
Now I'm not knocking the care provided at NRH. I know that they give excellent care. And I'm not sticking up for folks that knowingly and willingly try to avoid paying their bills. I'm just saying it doesn't always seem fair how they "go after" people, or turn them over to a collection agency or lawyer, when they are truly making an effort to pay their bill. Yeah NRH will never turn a patient away. But you had better be prepared to pay what they say or else.......
April 26, 2009 at 10:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
YaHooSis.....I'm so glad you posted because it gives me the opportunity to share a true story.
Last October I swallowed too big of a piece of prime rib. After spending a miserable night unable to swallow anything including my own saliva, I went to NRH emergency and soon found myself in outpatient emergency surgery. Everything went well and I returned to work the following MOnday.
In November I received a bill from NRH stating that my part of the bill amounted to about $650.00. I contacted NRH asking to make payments but they wanted their money faster than I could deliver...so they graciously set me up with CORE FIRST BANK so I could pay interest as well as my hospital bill.
So far, so good. Then in January I received notice from Medicare that my part of the bill to NRH would amount to about $200.00. What up I say?
I contact NRH...they say late charges are the difference.
I say why wern't these charges refered on to Medicare...They say they were....
I ask Medicare about the late charges....they say first they were never filed...then they say wait a munute....while I was on the phone talking to Medicare the late charges were filed. Keep in mind now this is almost two months after NRH had stuck all the late charges on my bill....and a week after I had made the first payment on the bank loan they got for me.
Eventually NRH conceeded their error and refunded the $450.00 overcharge to me. They claimed it was all just a mistake. But here are the facts....(1) somebody at NRH made a concious decision to just hang the late charges on the old man's bill rather than filed an ammended bill with Medicare.
(2)...no attempt was ever made to ammend the Medicare bill until I started asking questions.
my remaining questions are how common are these practices at NRH...and what would have a happened had I not noticed it?
April 26, 2009 at 10:56 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gemini (anonymous) says...
YahooSIS...I call BS.
NRH turns bills owed over to the vipers at CBCS Collections. They are rude and relentless in collecting bills and unwilling to work out payment plans. It's all or nothing. THAT is a direct representation of the lengths NRH will go to in order to collect.
Additionally, I was on a payment plan with NRH...I missed a due date because paperwork between me and NRH crossed in the mail. They did not hesitate one second to turn it over to CBCS.
I was in no way going to default (and I did not) however NRH made it nearly impossible for me to work with CBCS because they demanded payment in full,
It's BS that they seek delight from draining people like me, who are on unemployment, and other hard-working individuals of limited income when they allow people on welfare or whatever the free child care/medical services are, to be treated and not owe ANYTHING.
April 27, 2009 at 2:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
YaHooSis48 (anonymous) says...
Dear friends:NRH must treat all people equally. Everyone who applys for charity assistance must provide the same information and meet the same criteria for help. We will always have those who are simply not fiscally responsible and have no intention of paying their bills or responding to our letters and calls so we can help them. They just simply don't care. Now gooseylucy; your health insurance company surely sent you an explanation of payment advising you what they paid,what the write off was, and what you owed. You have no excuse for not calling our office for payment arrangements. We certainly cannot call everyone individually. Each of the Patient Representatives in the Patient Accounts office handle at least 20,000 accounts each. When your insurance company tells us you owe, we send the bill to you. It sounds goosey that you may want to take a little responsibility for your misfortune as 4 statements and a final notice goes out to the patient advising them about their balance. This is on top of your insurance companies EOB. Now if you move, you have a responsibility to let us know. When our statements are not delivered, they come back to us with the new address or in some cases unable to deliver no forwarding address. When this happens 3 times in a row, we purge our accounts by having an outside collection agency start the process of collection. Please do keep in mind that Newman Regional Health IS NOT A BANK, but a health care provider. We are not in the banking business, that's why we offer extended time to pay by using a bank. Many people say, "oh my credit isn't good enough" but guess what ALL OF OUR PATIENTS qualify for this service, there is no application process,
April 29, 2009 at 2:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
YaHooSis48 (anonymous) says...
BiscuitBoy! I might recall your account. Please let me assure you that we have all types of audits in place to prevent issues like yours from happening and I am very sorry that you had a problem with us. I truly do hope you give us the opportunity to serve you another time. Please call patient accounts if so and ask for me, I will personally handle your account. All providers of care hate having billing errors; however, they do happen on occasion, but when brought to our attention, we will work diligently to correct them. We value each of our patients. We want you to be happy and healthy and we want to be proud of the services we provide to you. My job as a patient representative is to answer all questions to your satisfaction or find someone with the answer within 48 hours. You have a right to ask and we have a responsibility to answer. I do hope that your next service with us is a positive one and I for one will do my best to provide that for you.
April 29, 2009 at 2:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
YaHooSis48 (anonymous) says...
Gemini,it sure sounds to me like you should have asked for financial assistance with your bill. I do know that we were able to help many of the Tyson families with charity care when their jobs were terminated.I truly do feel for you. I am not familiar with your particular case, nor am I with any of the above,but I might give a word of advise in these difficult times- - -PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL THE COMPANY WHO IS SENDING YOU BILLS! It does sound like you should have applied for charity assistance with your bill. Now keep in mind, if you have a boat, a motorcycle, a five bedroom mansion,etc your assests probably will work against you. I just stress that our staff is there to help. You will not find people with bigger hearts anywhere in your community than at Newman Regional Health! We are real people just like you. Many of us with critical health issues in our families or ourselves. We deal with the same tragedies as you do. We are indeed sensitive to your financial needs. Some of us have lost everthing due to health problems and had to file bankruptcy. This is unfortunate, but that's what happens when you have serious illness, like brain tumors, Stage III cancer, hepatitis, and crohn's disease. Now for the issue of Healthwave and Medicaid. These are federal and state programs designed for the medically needy and underserved population in our community. We accept these forms of payments according to the rules and guidelines given to us by mandates of the state and federal government. I am thankful for this system that cares for our elderly and young and those in need who can't care for themselves. Those will always be among us.
April 29, 2009 at 2:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gemini (anonymous) says...
YahooSIS....I DID apply for charity assistance from NRH, although it killed me to do so. They denied me because I own a modest home and make "too much" on unemployment. How laughable is that? Your turn...
April 29, 2009 at 8:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
YaHooSis48 (anonymous) says...
Gemini, it's not laughable at all! This tells me you must have had a pretty good income until you lost it. I must assume also that there are no children in the home. Our assistance program is based on federal poverty guidelines. I also must assume that you did not have medical bills exceeding a portion of you income as this in itself would have qualified your for a special payment program if you failed the charity assistance program. When all of these factors do not qualify you for a discount or write off, then we look at Corefirst for assistance. I noted earlier that we are a healthcare provider and not a bank. We can stretch your payments over 60 months or a minimum payment of 25.00 per month. I have seen people as I mentioned earlier whose illness simply bankrupts them. I agree this is a sad place to find one's self in; especially in America. Bless your heart, I do wish a remedy had been found. We try to use all tools available to us when helping our patients.
April 29, 2009 at 8:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gemini (anonymous) says...
YahooSIS--
I appreciate your kind remarks. I understand you have critieria that must be met before charity assistance can be given. I was very angry however with NRH for turning it over to CBCS who refused to work out payment plans.
To preserve the helpful image of NRH, I would suggest finding a better and more decent collection agency. Regardless, my debt has been paid off and I will surely suffer before I find myself incurring any more outrageous medical bills because the only health insurance I can afford for myself doesn't cover squat.
April 29, 2009 at 8:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
The thing about my case that keeps sticking in my craw....is why some employeee of NRH did make a conscious decision to just hang these 450 dollors in late arriving charges on the old man's bill rather than amend the Medicare filing in the first place. No matter if the decision was due to carelessness, ignorance, or malfeceance....it was a conscious decision.
Then once it was made there was no reason to file an amended claim with Medicare. I was already making payments on it...to file an amendment then might have even looked like double-dipping.
Like I told somebody at NRH after this was all over.....$450.00 might not seem like much to NRH....but to an old man on a fixed income...it's one hell of a lot of money.
April 29, 2009 at 8:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
YaHooSis48 (anonymous) says...
BiscuitBoy, I can understand your frustration. Late charges occur when a department doesn't meet their deadline for putting your charges on your account. The account then is coded in the medical records department and the bill drops for electronic billing. Each department gets 7-10 days to get those charges on your account. Once the diagnosis is added then if the claim passes all audits a claim is filed electronically and in your case to Medicare. On your account all of this happened, but then one of the departments that provided service to you found an error and corrected their charges. Well this is all fine and dandy except that for some reason no one caught the error. I must confess, it appears due to human error.I agree, it should have never happened. It should have been found before your balance went to the bank. We do take our Medicare billing very seriously and go thru many in house audits as well as outside audits to be sure that we are doing a good job. In your case; sir, it appears we failed the test. I know that when tables are turned and I am a patient, I match every line item,every date of service, and every total amount billed to my insurance and I assure you, it better balance out. You did a good job of evaluating your claim and your Medicare explanation of benefits. My hat is off to you sir. Medicare demands very detailed line item billing, specific codes,types of bills,just extremely detailed billing. In fact all billing is based on Medicare guidelines. What happened to you was human error even with all the checks and balances in place. I just wish we had discovered this error in a more timely fashion. Once again, my hat is off to a pretty sharp cookie!
April 29, 2009 at 9:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gooseylucy (anonymous) says...
YaHoo, When you turned me into a collection agency, it was for a bill that was 3 years old!! I don't know if someone was going thru "the books" and found it or what, but I never received a notice or bill that I owed NRH money. If I would have known, I would have paid it!! But perhaps it was just easier for you to turn me over to a collection agency (for a $250 bill). And no, I hadn't moved. I've lived at the same address for many years. And as I mentioned before, I was an employee of the hospital, it's not like you didn't know where to find me. Why couldn't someone pick up the phone, dial my extension and let me know I owed you $250?
And my son's bill was due to the fact that he did not have any insurance and he was a student working a weekend job only. He did contact the billing office, numerous times. You kept telling him there was nothing you could do to help him. You said "If your bill was higher" or "your wife makes too much money". (Yeah, waitresses make soooo much money.) You said he did not qualify for charity care and nobody even mentioned anything about a loan from a bank. You just turned it over to your lawyer and he took his government student loan money. Thank you very much!!!
I agree with gemini. There surely must be a more kind, considerate way to settle these matters. I have always found the nurses, and all the other staff at NRH to be kind & compassionate. But when it comes to the billing staff, I have found them to be very un-helpful and short with people. And then the lawyer and collection agency is just down-right nasty!! This reflects badly on NRH.
April 29, 2009 at 9:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
YaHooSis48 (anonymous) says...
Gemini,I will find out more about the processes used by CBCS. I honestly thought they would set payments of some sort up with you. I'll look into this so that I can speak more knowledgeably about them. This is not normally an area I get into. Once an account goes to collection someone else handles them. Please understand, once CBCS gets the account, it has gone on for some months with no resolution and in many cases not even a contact from the patient. In other cases possibly like yours the only resolution to purge our system is that it goes to outside collection because it simply would cost us too much to continue to manage it. We do offer 9 months from the date of service with no interest on our accounts. I do realize that the deductibles, copays, and coinsurance that are being left as patient responsibility these days is devastating. It is almost impossible for families to pay an account off in 9 months sometimes. Once again, thats why we offer Corefirst Bank as a resolution.
April 29, 2009 at 9:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
biscuitboy (anonymous) says...
YaHooSis48
Thank you for a detailed and credible explanation....I can accept human error....I better accept human error because I err with regularity.
apology accepted....now on to a better future.
April 30, 2009 at 5:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
CRAZE (anonymous) says...
OK people this is off the subject a little but involves the hospital. The administration of the hospital is thinking about making all the employees wear certain color scrubs. Example all the RN's will wear one color, the LPN's a different, Aides will have a color and then every department will wear a specific color. So every employee will be in a plain one color uniform everyday. The administration thinks this will make patients think the employees are more professional and will make a good first impression on the patient. I would rather have a nurse that has whatever on and is very caring to my needs as a patient. Color coating the departments and nursing does not improve patient care. I like seeing everyones colorful and different uniforms. My question is this is Administration going to wear a uniform is the CEO going to wear the same color everyday if not then does that mean he is not professional? Quality of care and professionalism does not come from what you wear it comes from your actions!
April 30, 2009 at 10:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
gooseylucy (anonymous) says...
CRAZE, I agree with you 100%!!! You cannot measure professionalism with a certain color, pattern, or type of uniform. That's just crazy. And I know that not only nurses but all of the ancillary staff have spent A LOT of money on their varied uniforms. I don't think it's fair of administration to expect you to just lose out on that and dictate to you what you should be wearing. I do enjoy seeing all the different uniforms in the hospital. It also gives the patient something else to look at, other than a whole bunch of staff in the same color. Perhaps NRH Admin. should check with their patients and see which way they prefer to see hospital staff dressed.
May 1, 2009 at 7:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
CRAZE (anonymous) says...
gooseylucy that is an excellent idea! NRH though does not want any input from their employees. They make the decesions on their own. A group of high power decides what is best and doesn't inform anyone what is going on. The employees find out through reading the Gazette or through a hospital e-mail. Also NRH wanting all the nursing to go to RN's only in crazy. There are a lot of LPN's who have been working over 30 years and have more clinical experience than any RN. LPN's are the ones helping you bath, go to the bathroom, answering your call light and taking your vitals 70% of the time. RN's are too busy charting on the computer.
May 1, 2009 at 10:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )