One of the reimbursement issues pertains to payments on cases performed by non-partner surgeons operating at the ASC under use agreements with the center.
Northstar expects its 2008 and 2009 revenue and cash flow to be adversely affected by the payor difficulties, but it was unable to say how significantly the challenge would impact the company.
Northstar also announced in the press release that its Kirby Surgical Center in Houston has entered into an in-network contract with a major private insurance company.
“This contract will go a long way toward addressing the volume issues that have resulted in reduced revenue and earnings at the Kirby Center,” said Syl Ghirardi, interim CEO of Northstar in the press release. “While we anticipate that reimbursement will generally be at rates below the historic norms for Kirby, we are already seeing increased surgical volume that is expected to mitigate this reduction.”
Read the Northstar Healthcare press release about the third-party payor difficulties at Palladium-Houston Surgical Center.
