Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare's third-quarter financial results were "unfavorably impacted" by its physician staffing joint venture, CEO Sam Hazen said during an Oct. 24 earnings call transcribed by Seeking Alpha.
Here are five more things to know:
1. HCA reported $1.63 billion in third-quarter operating income, down 4.1 percent from the previous year.
2. In April, HCA went from a 50% to 90% owner of Valesco — a move which reduced HCA's consolidated margins by roughly 80 basis points in the quarter, CFO Bill Rutherford said in the call.
3. Valesco is a joint venture with EmCare, a physician practice management firm affiliated with Envision Healthcare, which recently filed for bankruptcy.
4. The deal had a negative impact of about $100 million on HCA's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation in the quarter, Mr. Rutherford said.
5. "Going forward, we anticipate the loss from this venture to approximate $50 million a quarter," Mr. Rutherford said. "We are working diligently on multiple efforts to address these results, including making programming adjustments where necessary, deploying efforts to reduce the cost structure, and working with payers for more appropriate reimbursement."