ER online reservations are available at more than 100 hospitals, including facilities run by Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC). Reservations and other concierge services, including mobile apps that provide wait times, are intended to make emergency room experiences more palatable. "We value it as a service," Rick Black, a Tenet spokesman, said in an interview. They provide the online ER check-ins at 42 hospitals. It's free for patients at all but a few of those facilities. Reservations, already available in some doctors' offices, are part of an increasing effort by hospitals to shore up revenue by enhancing patient satisfaction.
The federal government is now using its financial muscle to discourage readmissions. Medicare last month began levying financial penalties against 2,217 hospitals it says have had too many readmissions. Of those hospitals, 307 will receive the maximum punishment, a 1% reduction in Medicare's regular payments for every patient over the next year, federal records show. Medicare's spending reached $556 billion this year. The readmission penalties will recoup about $300 million this year, but the goal is to pressure hospitals to pay attention to what happens to their patients after they walk out the door.
The Supreme Court revived a legal challenge to President Obama's healthcare law, saying a lower court can consider a challenge to the law's individual mandate. The court revived a suit filed by Liberty University, after a federal appeals court said it could not rule because of the Anti-Injunction Act, a federal law that bars lawsuits against new taxes before they have taken effect. The Supreme Court said the Anti-Injunction Act did not bar challenges to the individual mandate. So Liberty had asked the high court to send its case back to the lower court for a new hearing, since the rationale for declining to rule had been overturned.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH) provided a forecast for profit next year that was below analyst estimates as the company prepares for a poor business environment and reductions in government revenue. Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hemsley said that analysts' predictions for next year appeared optimistic, given the "weak business climate and employment outlook." Government cuts may also slow revenue growth from Medicaid plans for the poor and Medicare for the elderly, he said. Earnings in 2013 will be $5.25 to $5.50 a share, while revenue will be $123 billion to $124 billion, UNH said today in a regulatory filing. Analysts had anticipated $5.58 a share and $119.4 billion.
Orlando Health ended the year in the black, making $82.1 million for fiscal year 2012. Orlando Health is in a good overall financial position, with total assets going up over the year, but the hospital system actually posted a loss during the last two quarters: $689,000 in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2012 and $2.9 million in the third fiscal quarter. The hospital system is laying off employees to save costs and medical services could also be at risk of closure. That's because the system lost $21.65 million on operations.