One quarter after recording a $463 million loss, the Boston-based health system rebounded mightily.
Partners HealthCare bounced back from a rough start to the year, including the sudden resignation of its CEO and a $463 million quarterly loss, to record a gain of $623 million in Q2, according to its latest earnings report released Friday morning.
The system notched $131 million in operating income, nearly doubling its operating income from Q2 2018, led by $136 million in provider activity.
For yet another quarter, though, insurance activity resulted in a loss for Partners, with an operating loss of $5 million, contrasted with the $10 million gain made this time last year.
Premium revenue decreased by more than half, totalling $197 million for the quarter, while medical claims decreased by $190 million year-over-year to $177 million.
Related: Partners HealthCare Reports $463M Loss in Q1
However, of Partners' $623 million quarterly gain, $492 million is attributed to a non-operating gain.
Partners also benefited from a $312 million increase in revenue for provider activity, totalling $3.2 billion in Q2.
Again, operating expenses attributable to provider activity amounted to $3.1 billion, up $235 million year-over-year, as employee compensation and benefits rose $121 million to $1.7 billion, and supplies and other expenses amounted to $778 million.
C-suite perspective:
"As an integrated health care system, and as part of our Partners 2.0 effort to increase the value we deliver, we are continuously improving upon our efforts to treat less complex cases in community settings, allowing us to better ensure that Mass General and Brigham and Women’s have the capacity to treat the sickest patients," Peter K. Markell, CFO of Partners HealthCare, said in a statement. "Simply put, it is better for the patient, it is a more efficient way to deliver care, and it has helped strengthen our operating results these past few quarters. Additionally this quarter, favorable market conditions enabled us to recover the non-operating losses we experienced during the first quarter. The transition resulting from the retirement of Dr. David Torchiana as the President and CEO of Partners to Dr. Anne Klibanski as Interim President and CEO has gone extremely well and we expect continued strong execution of the Partners strategy."
The Boston-based system's earnings report were the last produced under CEO David Torchiana, MD, whose sudden retirement became official in April.
Care New England (CNE) Health System, a Providence, Rhode Island–based system stated in February that it is pursuing merger plans with Partners, though a regional rival has recently voiced its opposition to the deal.
Late last month, Providence-based Lifespan warned that the potential merger between Partners and CNE would have "devastating consequences" for Rhode Islanders.
Related: Lifespan Calls Partners-CNE Deal 'Devastating' for RI, Kicking Off Fight
Jack O'Brien is the Content Team Lead and Finance Editor at HealthLeaders, an HCPro brand.