Dive Brief:
- Quorum Health's net operating revenue for the third quarter dropped 7.7% to $460.5 million from $499.3 million the same time a year ago, according to a financial statement. Total net revenue increased 5.2% to $463.8 million from $438.6 million on a same-facility basis year over year.
- Admissions for the Brentwood, Tennessee-based hospital operator dropped 4.5% year over year. In a slide show presented during the company's Q3 earnings call, executives attributed $9.3 million in losses to lower volumes.
- The company is maintaining its full year 2018 financial guidance, and expects net operating revenues to land somewhere between $1.8 billion and $1.9 billion. Last year, that figure was at $2 billion.
Dive Insight:
A few notable financial benefits that cushioned Quorum's revenue in the third quarter included an $8.7 million benefit from California Hospital Quality Assurance Fee, a $7.3 million benefit from the monetization of Illinois property tax credits and a $21.8 million benefit from rate/acuity. Excluding the first two, Quorum reported 2.1% growth in same-facility net revenue in Q3 2018, year over year.
The debt-laden company continues to pare down and refocus its portfolio. It divested one hospital in Q3 and signed non-binding letters of intent with four buyers on five hospitals earlier this month. The total potential net proceeds of those sales are $105 million.
Quorum has collected $87 million in total proceeds to date, and the company plans to sell up to $215 million in additional assets by the end of next year.
Earlier this year, Quorum hired an outside firm to conduct a comprehensive margin improvement program and help shore up its finances. The focus has been on underperforming service lines, supply cost management, staff productivity and volume enhancement.
The impacts have been felt this past quarter. Quorum reported terminating 120 employees and 22 physicians. It also discontinued four service lines and exited or renegotiated several managed care contracts, specifically in Illinois.