West Reading, Pa.-based Tower Health, a three-hospital system, reduced its operating deficit  by more than $70 million to $141.9 million in fiscal year 2023 and aims to be back in the black in 2024, according to financial documents published Aug. 29.

Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health posted $184 million in operating income during the first six months of 2023, a 35 percent drop from the $285 million it reported during the same period last year, according to financial documents published Aug. 29.

VA Loma Linda (Calif.) Healthcare System inappropriately used more than $1 million in patient transportation funding by colluding with ambulance companies from October 2019 to May 2022, Southern California News Group reported Sept. 3, citing a confidential federal report.

Per-patient spending increases when primary care providers are part of large health systems, a study published Sept. 1 in JAMA Health Forum found. 

El Centro (Calif.) Regional Medical Center, which received a $28 million zero-interest loan from the state of California in August, failed to file financial results for the second quarter.

CMS has fined four more hospitals for alleged price transparency violations, according to a Sept. 1 update to its price transparency enforcement website.

CMS is launching a new population health-focused payment model aimed at addressing chronic disease, behavioral health and overall improvement of care management for states' populations.

Hospitals with capitated contracts saw a substantial decrease in Cesarean deliveries and postpartum depression/anxiety after including doulas.

Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare Services has closed a $425 million credit facility, a move that is expected to help with the company's growth strategy, including acquisitions.

Springfield, Ill.-based Hospital Sisters Health System warned patients of potentially fraudulent attempts to collect on fake hospital bills after a cybersecurity incident in late August, according to the health system's website.

Advocate Health Senior Vice President and Treasurer Bradley Clark is serving as the Charlotte, N.C.-based system's interim CFO while it searches for a permanent replacement for Anthony DeFurio. 

The average hospital operating margin dropped from June to July, but has increased year over year, according to the Kaufman Hall National Hospital Flash Report.

St. Margaret's Health, which has been closed since June, filed two petitions of Chapter 11 bankruptcy for its St. Margaret's Spring Valley (Ill.) and St. Margaret's Peru (Ill.) facilities, Shaw Local News Network reported Sept. 1.

From a hospital delaying its Epic installation due to an RCM change to what three health system leaders see as the biggest challenges right now, here are eight revenue cycle management headlines Becker's reported in August:

Marshall, Mo.-based John Fitzgibbon Memorial Hospital, which in June was downgraded to a "CCC" rating, is working with a number of consulting firms after its debt service coverage ratio slipped below 1.00 for the fiscal year ended April 30.

Inglewood, Calif.-based Centinela Hospital Medical Center is ending maternal child health services on Oct. 25 amid continued fallout over the death of a patient earlier this year.

New Brunswick, N.J.-based Saint Peter's University Hospital, the largest part of Saint Peter's Healthcare, was upgraded to "Baa2" from "Baa3," Moody's said Aug. 25.

Manchester, N.H.-based Catholic Medical Center saw its credit rating downgraded to "Ba1 negative" from "Baa3 negative," Moody's said Aug. 25.

West Des Moines, Iowa-based MercyOne will shutter its Albert Lea clinic on Dec. 31, eliminating its only facility in the state of Minnesota. 

Springfield, Ill.-based Memorial Health CEO Ed Curtis pointed to ballooning labor costs as the main reason for what he described as a "painful but responsible" decision to lay off 20 percent of the hospital's leadership in early August.