PATERSON -- St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center is still nursing itself back to fiscal health, but the most painful part of the recovery is likely to be over, the hospital's chief executive officer said Thursday.

After laying off 120 employees and eliminating 60 unfilled positions in October, hospital officials have turned their attention to billing practices in the hopes of saving more money without cutting services.

A team of four people from the Nashville-based Cambio Health Solutions has been working in the hospital's accounts receivable department, observing the billing practices, St. Joseph's CEO Patrick Wardell said.

Delays in billing make it more difficult to collect payments from managed-care companies, Wardell said. By improving the system, the hospital would be able to collect in a more timely manner.

"We've had a traditional approach to accounts receivable," he said, noting that changing the outdated system was a priority. "We didn't want to wait because every day you wait is a dollar you don't collect."

Wardell would not say how much the hospital is paying Cambio, but he said the team will spend three months in the hospital looking for ways to cut costs and keep St. Joseph's financially stable.

Wardell downplayed the possibility of another reduction in staff and services. "In my mind it's very doubtful we would be looking at curtailing any services," he said.

Faced with operating losses between $14 million and $19 million, the hospital eliminated positions and cut salaries in October to help close a $30 million budget gap.

Cambio will look at the layoffs to make sure that the hospital actually saved the estimated $30 million, Wardell said.

The changes come as Chief Financial Officer John Maher is on a two-month leave of absence that Wardell said was taken for personal reasons, and as new financial leadership settles in at the hospital.

In the meantime, St. Joseph's has been reassigning some of its staff, training people for new positions, and consolidating some services in the hopes of making the hospital more efficient.

Laboratory services in the Paterson hospital and St. Joseph's Wayne Hospital will be combined, Wardell said. The action is expected to save an estimated $1.5 million.

The two hospitals have already begun consolidating their pathology departments, which he estimated would bring about $500,000 in savings.

And by reassigning some employees, Wardell said, he hopes to improve the level of care. Some staff members were assigned to handle documentation and transportation issues that otherwise would keep nurses from concentrating on patients, he said.

Wardell acknowledged that changes made because of financial pressure have been difficult. "It's been a tough transition for the staff because it's been a quantum leap for them," he said.

"There was so much going on here. We're at a point now where things are settling down," he said.

In the meantime, Wardell said, the Wayne hospital has experienced a turnaround since St. Joeseph's acquired it earlier this year.

It is no longer losing money and next month will open a new acute rehabilitation unit, he said. The hospital is waiting for state approval to open a cardiac catheterization lab.

St. Joseph's operates 23 satellite services as well as the Wayne hospital, and serves 42,000 inpatients annually. Wardell said the changes will not affect its ability to provide charity care to the city's poor.

"This hospital doesn't exist to be profitable. It exists to make sure people can get care whether they can afford it or not," he said.

Bergen Record

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2001

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Bungled billing system conversions are plaguing the hospital industry

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2001