Nashville General Hospital at Meharry may add a pediatric unit as it moves toward becoming a more self-sustaining operation.
The county’s safety net hospital seeks to serve more children because they almost always have insurance — if not through a commercial policy, then through government-funded TennCare or CoverKids programs.
The proposal is one option for survival in the fast-changing health-care industry, but the chairman of the hospital board admits it’s no cure-all. Hospitals that governments once readily subsidized to provide charity care are now having to operate more like their corporate competitors.
“Every year is going to be a struggle for us until we are able to find what we can do within the health-care market here in Davidson County that sort of sustains us on an ongoing basis,” said Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr., the chairman of the hospital board. “I don’t think there’s any silver bullet to that occurring.”
The mandate to grow revenue came from Mayor Karl Dean in 2009 when he said the hospital had to become more efficient. Subsidies to the Metropolitan Hospital Authority, which also operates a nursing home and assisted-care programs for the elderly, have been reduced from almost $50 million when Dean first took office to $43.2 million.
The hospital will end its current fiscal year in the black because of a federal grant, but it expects revenues next year to drop by $2.9 million, which is a 2 percent cut. The great unknown is how much more it might lose when the congressional deficit reduction panel starts slashing federal spending.
Besides bringing on a pediatric unit, another option is to attract more kidney failure patients, said Robert K. Stillwell, the hospital’s chief financial officer.
“We have good nephrologists here,” Stillwell said. “We have a dialysis program on the campus. Every one of those patients has some form of insurance. We need to grow that program. It’s needed.”
People with kidney failure qualify for TennCare.
Another way Nashville General can increase revenues is to have more babies born at the hospital, because pregnant mothers also qualify for TennCare. However, for the 10-month period ending April 30, the hospital had only 50 births when 61 had been anticipated in the budget.
The hospital has attracted more patients with commercial insurance by waiving copayments and deductibles for Metro employees. The initiative brought in $1 million in new revenue and continues to attract Metro employees.
“It started off in a very small way and it has really grown to be a substantial revenue source,” Crenshaw said.
However, Nashville General will still need subsidies. It treated so many people without insurance or with limited coverage last year that it received only 20.7 percent of what it charged. It had hoped to get back 22 percent.
Although the board has already floated the idea of a pediatric unit before the mayor, it is not a done deal. The board will look at a revenue projection report at its next meeting.
Said Crenshaw: “We are looking at it very positively, and we hope that it makes sense in the long run.”
The county’s safety net hospital seeks to serve more children because they almost always have insurance — if not through a commercial policy, then through government-funded TennCare or CoverKids programs.
The proposal is one option for survival in the fast-changing health-care industry, but the chairman of the hospital board admits it’s no cure-all. Hospitals that governments once readily subsidized to provide charity care are now having to operate more like their corporate competitors.
“Every year is going to be a struggle for us until we are able to find what we can do within the health-care market here in Davidson County that sort of sustains us on an ongoing basis,” said Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr., the chairman of the hospital board. “I don’t think there’s any silver bullet to that occurring.”
The mandate to grow revenue came from Mayor Karl Dean in 2009 when he said the hospital had to become more efficient. Subsidies to the Metropolitan Hospital Authority, which also operates a nursing home and assisted-care programs for the elderly, have been reduced from almost $50 million when Dean first took office to $43.2 million.
The hospital will end its current fiscal year in the black because of a federal grant, but it expects revenues next year to drop by $2.9 million, which is a 2 percent cut. The great unknown is how much more it might lose when the congressional deficit reduction panel starts slashing federal spending.
Talks set for Aug. 31
The hospital board will discuss whether to add the pediatric unit on Aug. 31, when it also is expected to vote on a budget for its new fiscal year.Besides bringing on a pediatric unit, another option is to attract more kidney failure patients, said Robert K. Stillwell, the hospital’s chief financial officer.
“We have good nephrologists here,” Stillwell said. “We have a dialysis program on the campus. Every one of those patients has some form of insurance. We need to grow that program. It’s needed.”
People with kidney failure qualify for TennCare.
Another way Nashville General can increase revenues is to have more babies born at the hospital, because pregnant mothers also qualify for TennCare. However, for the 10-month period ending April 30, the hospital had only 50 births when 61 had been anticipated in the budget.
The hospital has attracted more patients with commercial insurance by waiving copayments and deductibles for Metro employees. The initiative brought in $1 million in new revenue and continues to attract Metro employees.
“It started off in a very small way and it has really grown to be a substantial revenue source,” Crenshaw said.
However, Nashville General will still need subsidies. It treated so many people without insurance or with limited coverage last year that it received only 20.7 percent of what it charged. It had hoped to get back 22 percent.
Although the board has already floated the idea of a pediatric unit before the mayor, it is not a done deal. The board will look at a revenue projection report at its next meeting.
Said Crenshaw: “We are looking at it very positively, and we hope that it makes sense in the long run.”
Source http://www.tennessean.com/
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