Salem Memorial District Hospital has been under the direction of Rural Hospital Group (RHG) since Feb. 4. In the first 60 days of the contract, immense changes have been made to the organization of SMDH. The role of RHG is to assist the hospital in responding to the financial crisis that is sweeping the wider rural hospital industry. The agreement is not intended to be the permanent solution, according to SMDH attorney Mark Weaver, in a recent interview with The Salem News.
“Overall, it is going well,” said interim CEO Bill May.
Additional staff changes have occurred in the purchasing department and a new family nurse practitioner (FNP) was hired for the clinic.
Three candidates are being interviewed for the CEO position. Over 130 applicants applied. The group was narrowed down to six and, after phone interviews, the pool tapered to three candidates.
May also clarified an item from a recent Phelps Health board report, published in Phelps County Focus.
“Salem Memorial District Hospital is not offering $3,000 sign on bonuses to patient service representative (PSR) personnel at the Phelps clinic. The only bonuses being offered at this point are for nursing and laboratory,” he said.
• Hospital Purchasing Group will be used for purchasing, with the full conversion being completed by July. Every product in the hospital from bandages to food to MRI machines is purchased by the department at the hospital. Significant discounts are available for a variety of products, ultimately saving money for the hospital.
One example is savings of over $180,000 in the dialysis department. A similarly effective drug will take the place of another, more expensive one, in the dialysis process.
• The Vitros will be delivered this week and two weeks later the lab will be at full volume.
• Nursing compensation across the board at the hospital was recently raised.
“We were below market in several areas, so we made adjustments,” said May. Salary and benefit adjustments were made to the entire department including RN, LPN, CNA positions.
• A review of the coding index of all charges in the hospital was completed. After the review several hundred codes were adjusted from the system that were out of date. This process will help with billing across the board.
• A third-party intermediary handles Medicare. The rates for Medicare are adjusted each year, at least once. A bump in rates for inpatients, swing bed, clinic patients was recently received.
• Insurance contracts are currently under review by an external source. This usually takes 12-18 months.
• Jennifer Smith, revenue cycle manager, was hired in March. Cash days on hand have increased significantly in the past 60 days. Currently the unbilled reports show eight days, versus 14 when RHG started. The goal is six.
• 14 dismissals were completed in various departments. There are currently about five openings in nursing.
• Currently, four systems are in place in various departments for medical records. Two of the three departments will be converted to CPSI by July.
• Service and vendor contracts are being reviewed.
• New equipment is being reviewed including a CT machine. The current one was leased in 2016. In addition, a sterilizer will be purchased.
• Surgeries completed at SMDH include those in urology, podiatry, endoscopy, and some general procedures. RHG is looking to add additional surgeons to increase services.
The Missouri Hospital Association’s Community Investment Report finds that in 2020, the state’s hospitals provided more than $3.5 billion in total community benefit — an increase of nearly $100 million from 2019, and a 16% increase throughout the last decade. In 2020, hospitals provided $1.8 billion in total uncompensated care — an increase of more than $93 million over 2019. On the association’s consumer data site, focusonhospitals.com, it is reported Salem Memorial District Hospital provided $121,078 in charity care, $3,344,055 in bad debt, $261,225 in unpaid costs for treatment of Medicare patients for a total of $3,726,358 of uncompensated cost. The hospital spent $14,351,236 on payroll and benefits for 247 employees. In addition, the hospital paid $806,669 in taxes and had $25,343,251 in total operating expenses. Salem Memorial District Hospital’s net revenue was $23,545,340 and showed net income of negative $1,298,227.
