Dive Brief:
- Kaiser Permanente posted strong results for third quarter of 2017, with $18.3 billion in operating revenue, up 11.5% from the same period a year ago.
- Operating income rose to $850 million, 20.9% more than in the prior-year period but less than the $1 billion operating gain in the first quarter of this year. Non-operating income was down 10.8% to $408 million.
- The Oakland, Calif.-based hospital system and health plan recorded net income of $1.3 billion, a 15.3% increase from last year.
Dive Insight:
In a financial update, Kaiser said its health plans have added about 1 million members since Jan. 1, bringing the total to 11.7 million at the end of the third quarter. The growth includes membership from the February purchase of Seattle-based Group Health Cooperative.
During the third quarter, Kaiser announced plans to launch 31 more Kaiser-staffed retail clinics in Southern California Target stores. The partnership previously opened four Target Clinics in the San Diego area. The clinics are part of a growing trend to offer consumers more convenient medical care and take some of the pressure off hospitals, emergency rooms and busy primary care doctors.
The quarter also saw Kaiser fined $2.2 million for failing to provide patient care information to California’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal. In January, California fined the heath system $2.5 million for the same infraction. At the time, Kaiser said it would have the data for the California Department of Health Care Services by September. No appeal of the fine was planned.
Separately, Kaiser announced a collaboration between Kaiser Permanente Northwest and PeaceHealth, a Vancouver, Wash.-based nonprofit Catholic health system, to expand access to care and improve health in Lane County, Wash. Among issues the partnership plans to tackle are transitional and recuperative housing, access to dental care and strengthening school-based health centers.