OCR Text |
Show V.V.M.C. reverses losses member hospitals $4.2 million in 1979. By refinancing existing bonds after receiving a double A-plus rating on the New York bond market, IHC saved $3.5 million. And, through forming its own malpractice insurance group, premium savings for member hospitals have totaled $1 million annually. According to the publication, the growth of multi-hospital systems such as IHC is the result of the increasing demands on hospitals for services with a con-commitant con-commitant squeeze on reimbursement. The free-standing hospitals, particularly those in rural areas, are looking for the financial expertise that can help them to cut costs and improve efficiency ef-ficiency whenever possible. According to "American Medical News," a national publication for physicians, the Valley View Medical Center has reversed a 12-year losing financial picture. The Sept. 26 article cites VVMC as an example of a rural hospital turnaround resulting from an affiliation af-filiation with In-termountain In-termountain Health Care, a not-for-profit chain of hospitals. The article, "Turnaround "Tur-naround at Valley View," explained reasons for the 72-bed hospital's success : "Reversing cumulative losses, which were totaling almost $1 million in 1975, came as a result of eliminating 15 jobs (through attrition) with salaries totaling $124,000; renegotiating contracts with outside suppliers, saving $29,000; obtaining ob-taining discounts on supplies, saving $72,000; switching to a new malpractice carrier, saving $8,000; cutting bad debt loss, saving $82,000; and establishing an energy conservation program, saving $17,000. Valley View's administrator, ad-ministrator, Reginald Hughes, told "American Medical News" that he attributes the turnaround to the hospital's 1976 affiliation with ICHC. In addition to the financial improvement, Hughes informed the physician's newspaper, the hospital is providing more and better services than before IHC took over. The newspaper described the IHC's cost-saving cost-saving programs as illustrations of how one system can affect its member hospitals. Purchasing savings due to centrally negotiated supply contracts saved |