T.G.H. Remains In The Red

Sonora, CA — As expected Tuolumne General Hospital was the main topic of discussion at the Board of Supervisors meeting this morning.

Financially C.A.O. Craig Pedro reported that T.G.H.´s current deficit is $1.9 million greater than anticipated. The greatest problem according to Pedro is lack of patient volumne. To that end Interim Hospital C.E.O. John Wilson stated that T.G.H. has a fulltime community liaison scouring the Mother Lode for patient referrals.

Other items adding to the enhanced deficit: costs dealing with memorandums of understanding and professional services.

From Dallas, TX PHNS Representative Larry Schunder commented that his firm was hired to help T.G.H. with admitting and receiving, medical records and billing and collection services. To date PHNS has increased the quality and timeliness of the coding side, eliminated the transcription backlog, improved the turnaround in the coding side and transcriptions and improved the amount of processed claims by forty-five percent.

From a revenue standpoint, T.G.H. has surpassed the $2 million mark for both January and February. These collections have come from a backlog of accounts receivable.

Written by Bill Johnson