Dive Brief:
- Lifepoint Health reported a net loss of $5.3 million for the first quarter of 2018, with revenues totaling $1.61 billion compared to $1.63 billion for the same quarter in 2017. The 71-hospital system beat Wall Street expectations for earnings per share by 12 cents, but fell short of expectations on revenue.
- Total admissions for the Brentwood, Tennessee-based system decreased 5.2% year-over-year with same-hospital admissions decreasing 2.2% year-over-year. Same-hospital revenues increased 0.4% to $1.6 million, compared to $1.59 million for the same period last year.
- Lifepoint announced three divestitures in Louisiana in Q1, and those deals are expected to close by the end of the second quarter. Executives said on an earnings call Friday that they are expecting to receive just over $20 million for the sale of the hospitals.
Dive Insight:
Lifepoint reported $51.7 million in adjusted net income, compared to $47.8 million in Q1 of 2017. Those adjustments account for the $5.3 million net loss and $1.2 million in losses attributable to the the transfer of the system's home health partnership with LHC Group. The negative impact that transfer has on Lifepoint's rate will decline over the year and eventually normalize, company executives said on the call.
Lifepoint is accumulating some debt, with long-term debt in Q1 of 2018 totaling $2.89 billion, compared to $2.88 billion for the same quarter in 2017.
In its report, Lifepoint attributed revenue decreases to $3.2 million less in Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive payments year-over-year.
Lifepoint's decline in admissions reflects the industry shift from inpatient to outpatient settings. Community Health Systems reported a similar 2.4% decrease in admissions for the quarter. Tenet, however, reported a 0.3% increase in admissions for Q1, and HCA reported an admissions increase of 4.6% year-over-year for the quarter.
Lifepoint closed out 2017 with a net loss of $27 million. The company's guidance remains relatively unchanged for 2018, executives said, but the system is also hopeful that its margins and admissions will increase if Virginia, the third-largest revenue state for the system, expands Medicaid this year.