May 8, 2018 3 min read

Acute care hospitals statewide experienced a decrease in the amount they spent on uncompensated care in fiscal year 2017, according to a report released today by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.

The four hospitals in Washington and Greene counties had mixed marks on uncompensated care, which is uncollected debt and charity care. That was the fourth consecutive year, PHC4 noted, the percentage fell.

Those mixed results prompted mixed reviews from leaders of those local facilities.

Uncompensated care value decreased significantly from FY 2016 to FY 2017, from $844 million to $761 million – a 9.8 percent decline, PHC4 said. Statewide, the percentage of uncompensated care fell to 1.74 percent “of reported net patient revenue, although 37 percent of Pennsylvania hospitals posted a negative operating margin,” said Joe Martin, the executive director of PHC4, an independent state agency that collects, analyzes and reports on the cost and quality of health care in the state.

Region 1, made up of 29 hospitals in eight counties including Washington and Greene, finished a little higher than the Pennsylvania average at 1.78 percent for uncompensated care. Those facilities also are in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette and Westmoreland counties.

Of hospitals in Washington and Greene, Monongahela Valley in Carroll Township had the lowest percentage of uncompensated care, 1.53 percent. Canonsburg, in North Strabane Township and part of the Allegheny Health System, was the second-lowest at 2.21 percent. Washington followed at 3.68 percent, and Washington Health System-Greene was at 6.11 percent.

Lou Panza, president and chief executive officer at Mon Valley, credited the working relationship between staff and patient. He said in an email: “Our percentage of uncompensated care is under the state average because we work diligently with patients to help them complete their medical assistance forms.”

Gary Weinstein, president and chief executive officer of Washington Health System, has reservations about the report.

“I wouldn’t put undue importance on this,” he said. “I think the information is inconsistent. You have to be a little skeptical about the figures.”

Weinstein said “there are several categories of uncompensated care. There is charity care, and we do provide that. There also are government payers, especially Medicaid, that do not pay the actual costs. And some people just don’t pay the bill.”

He said he pays more attention to the total margin category in the report, which shows Washington Hospital posting a 10.72 percent increase in FY 2017 from FY 2016.

Dan Laurent, spokesman for AHN, said Canonsburg’s uncompensated care figure is the highest among its acute care facilities. But that, he added, is not necessarily a negative.

“Washington County has higher levels of government business – especially with Medicare and Medicaid – than commercially insured patients in that market.”

He added “when you look at financial numbers, you have to remember that this is a snapshot in time. Some of these figures are from 18 months ago. Canonsburg’s financial picture has improved since that time.”

Laurent said AHN has invested in a number of services at the North Strabane facility in recent years, including a program for cardiovascular and pulmonary rehabilitation that opened this winter and a sleep lab.

“Washington County and many communities in Washington County remain a critical market for us,” Laurent said.