Public Health is Destroying Big Health System Medicine

>-1.6Bln Change in Profit from last year so far - in just ONE Hospital System - Due to Longer Hospitalization Times

You’ve seen all of the sudden deaths. You’ve seen the insurance data. You’ve seen the athletes. There’s a national worker shortage. Not due to COVID-19 vaccines, they say.

Now hospitals are finding that patients who are hospitalized (for any condition) tend to require longer hospital stays. And it’s strangling their bottom line.

I’ve never been for “For-Profit Medicine”. Becker Hospital Review article from 2 days ago, however, is sobering. I almost feel bad for them. I predicted an implosion; I didn’t expect it to be of this scale, so fast:

“Despite seeing an increase in revenue, Boston-based Mass General Brigham reported a loss for the third quarter, which ended June 30.  

The health system recorded operating revenues of $4.26 billion in the third quarter of this year, up from $4.08 billion in the same period last year, according to financial documents released Aug. 12. Net patient service revenue was up slightly year over year. The health system said higher inpatient acuity along with longer lengths of stay resulted in a decline in discharges and curtailed patient service revenue. 

The system's revenue growth was offset by higher expenses. Mass General Brigham's expenses grew from $3.95 billion in the third quarter of 2021 to $4.38 billion in the third quarter of this year. 

The health system ended the third quarter of this year with an operating loss of $120.18 million, compared to operating income of $128.2 million in the same period a year earlier. 

"The challenges we face are significant. The national labor shortage continues, leading to higher costs and contributing to ongoing severe capacity constraints," Mass General Brigham President and CEO Anne Klibanski, MD, said in an earnings release. "We are focused on navigating current market dynamics while planning for the future, transforming our organization to deliver services as a single integrated system and enabling our patients to easily access the full continuum of care that we provide." 

Mass General Brigham ended the third quarter of this year with a net loss of $948.99 million. The health system posted a nonoperating loss of $828.81 million, reflecting unfavorable volatility in the financial markets. In the comparable 2021 quarter, the health system recorded net income of $869.89 million.”

Source: Becker Hospital Review