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Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024
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Hospitals: Some Changes in Revenue, Fewer in Ranks

To say hospitals are stable is a good thing, especially for people spending time there.

A similar tale is told by this year’s Business Journal list of the county’s largest such layouts, ranked by net patient revenue.

The 31 hospitals show $9.1 billion in revenue, up about 6% year-over-year; we gathered data on 29; patient revenue totals for two facilities are estimates.

A baker’s dozen of facilities essentially held their positions at the top of the list with a few swaps.

The big three:

• UCI Medical Center in Orange is No.1 again this year, with $1.2 billion in net patient revenue.

• Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach and Irvine moves up a notch to No. 2, with $1.1 billion.

• Kaiser Permanente’s OC hospitals in Anaheim and Irvine combined dropped to No. 3, with an estimated $1 billion.

These three—also the top trio last year—are the only hospitals north of $1 billion in net patient revenue, combining for $3.3 billion. That’s more than one-third of the list’s total net patient revenue.

$100 Million

The next 15 ranked hospitals clocked in above $100 million in patient revenue.

Eight had higher net patient revenue—seven in double digits and one, St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, just off that figure, while still rising 9%.

The biggest gainer was College Hospital in Costa Mesa, climbing 58% to $121 million, breaking into nine figures and rising two slots to No. 17.

The other seven at that level saw declining net patient revenue, at rates from miniscule—0.1% for Foothill Regional Medical Center in Tustin, ranked No. 14 and the list’s sole newcomer—to negligible—No. 16 West Anaheim Medical Center down 1.9%—to double-digits: No. 8 Fountain Valley Regional Hospital & Medical Center, down 10.4% and No. 12 Anaheim Regional Medical Center, down 12.5%.

Same Difference

Another dozen hospitals saw between $10 million and $99 million in net patient revenue—more precisely, $11.4 million for No. 30 Newport Bay Hospital to No. 19 Anaheim Global Medical Center at about $83 million.

The last ranked hospital on the list is HealthBridge Children’s Hospital in Orange—and it’s nearly in the $10 million club, with $9.4 million in net patient revenue.

As with much of the rest of the cohort, hospitals in this range followed divergent routes to get to a spot on the list much the same as last year.

Seven were down, five were up, and one, Kindred Hospital Santa Ana, down a notch at No. 28, is an estimate.

No. 22 Kindred Hospital Westminster, for instance, was down a tick—0.02%, essentially flat—while several hospitals in this range saw double-digit declines.

The biggest gain was by No. 20, CHOC Children’s at Mission Hospital, which rose 25% to $83.3 million in net patient revenue.

Net Income

An interesting wrinkle is added when looking at net income.

It’s not a ranking criterion, but it can suggest elements of a hospital’s performance.

UCI and Hoag, for instance, saw pre-tax net income drop about one-third—though UCI’s patient income was steady—up 0.1%—and Hoag’s rose 12%.

College Hospital Costa Mesa—the biggest gainer in net patient revenue with its 58%—saw a 743% jump in net income, to $51.1 million. It was one of five—more than 20% of the list—with triple-digit hikes in the metric.

Six hospitals had triple-digit declines in net income.

KPC Group’s four hospitals in Orange County—two in Santa Ana, one in Orange, one in Anaheim, and all dubbed “global medical centers”—combined for a net loss of $35 million; three of the four also had declines in net patient revenue.

List seesawing in either direction suggest capital investments, higher costs, or changes in what kind of care patients are seeking and how they’re paying for it. Increased drug costs and changes in Medicare reimbursement are a factor.

Telehealth has cut costs, as have increases in at-home visits—both of which are alternatives to coming back to the hospital itself. Business Journal research also shows length of patient stays is declining.

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