Lehigh Valley Hospital: When It Matters Most
lvh.org home page Careers at LVH Education @ LVH For Professionals working with LVH
2007 Financial and Operational Report

Direct Patient Care 2007

$90,843,583


Medicare Shortfall*
$33,047,965

  • The difference between Medicare and Medicare Managed Care payments and the cost of providing patient care.

Medical Assistance Shortfall*
$23,403,260

  • The difference between Medical Assistance and Medical Assistance Managed Care payments and the cost of providing patient care.

Bad Debt
$17,237,772

  • The cost of providing care to patients who LVHHN believes were able to pay for their care but did not.
  • When people do not pay, regardless of whether they are able to pay and choose not to, or if they are unable to pay, it is uncompensated care. Act 55 defines this as appropriate community benefit.

Uncompensated Charity Care
$9,344,538

  • Free care for people who were unable to pay.
  • About shortfalls and Act 55: As per Act 55, community benefit provided by charitable organizations includes shortfalls between payments received from Medicare, Medical Assistance and patients, and the cost of providing care.

Care for People Who Are Uninsured or Underinsured
$6,192,842

  • The difference between clinic payments and clinic costs.
  • Includes a portion of wages and benefits for residents who care for people in our clinics.
  • Includes 40 primary and specialty care clinics and programs related to those clinics, such as our Casa Guadalupe outreach.

Direct Patient Care Community Activities
$549,210

Some examples of these activities include:

  • Distribution of about 10,000 free flu shots to community members.
  • Distribution of free hand-sanitizer samples to patients to promotehand-washing safety in the hospital.
  • Medications appropriate to patient treatment that were provided freeupon discharge to people unable to pay for them.
  • Portion of wages and benefits for coordinator who obtains medicationsfrom pharmaceutical companies and distributes them to patients whocan’t afford them.
  • The difference between payments for mental health services from Lehigh County and the cost of providing services at two residentialaftercare programs (called Transitional Living Centers).

Interpreting Service and Patient Representative
$547,487

  • Language interpreting services from hospital-based interpreters
    and purchased foreign language, sign language and online
    interpreting services. These interpreting services are provided free of charge to patients.
  • Fees associated with patient satisfaction surveys. Survey results help our patient representatives to better advocate for patients. This enables us to provide the best care for our patients.

TRICARE Shortfall*
$300,509

  • The difference between TRICARE (formerly CHAMPUS)
    payments and the cost of providing patient care.
  • TRICARE is a federally funded health insurance plan for
    uniformed military personnel, retirees and their families.

Blue Cross Special Care Shortfall*
$220,000

  • The difference between Blue Cross Special Care payments
    and the cost of providing patient care.
  • Blue Cross Special Care is a limited-benefit, low-cost health
    insurance plan for people who otherwise would be uninsured.

This page last updated 2/12/08 04:08 PM
ARTICLE TOOLS:

email this article to a friend print this article    Del.icio.us   Stumble It!

How a Not-for-Profit Organization Determines Community Benefit

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania defines what constitutes a purely public charity with a regulation called Act 55, the Institutions of Purely Public Charity Act. It sets specific criteria for what constitutes a charitable organization, defines the uncompensated goods and services that qualify as community benefit, and prescribes how these goods and services are measured.

The not-for-profit entities of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network qualify as charitable organizations. They fulfill the criteria of Act 55 and have done so consistently since the act went into effect in 1997.






hon cod ©2008 Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network
LVH Info Line: 610-402-CARE
Cedar Crest & I-78, P.O. Box 689, Allentown, PA 18105-1556

Lehigh Valley Hospital has campuses in Allentown and Bethlehem, Pa. and serves the Pennsylvania communities of Easton, Doylestown, Quakertown, Hazelton, Lehighton, Perkasie, Pottstown, Pottsville, Reading, Scranton, Wilkes Barre, Stroudsburg, and the Poconos and also Phillipsburg and Flemington, N.J., and western New Jersey. You don't have to travel to Philadelphia or New York for quality health care.

 
Increase the Size of Text by clicking here. Descrease the Size of Text by clicking here Email this story to family and friends. Print this story formatted for your printer.