Jennie Stuart works to remain in Humana network
May 2, 2012
HOPKINSVILLE—For the benefit of patients, Jennie Stuart Medical Center (JSMC) is trying in good faith to extend contract negotiations with Humana to remain a participating healthcare provider, JSMC announced today. Humana wrote JSMC in March, demanding that by June 1, 2012 the not-for-profit hospital agree to give the large, for-profit health insurer a deeper discount for care that JSMC already provides.
JSMC has communicated its willingness to negotiate with Humana and several times has requested an extension to do so, according to Sam Brown, vice president, Financial Services, JSMC.
“We must protect the financial viability of this community’s hospital. It is a tough time in the hospital industry, and many of the nations’ hospitals are seeing expenses exceed revenues. That was the case for Jennie Stuart Medical Center last year. At the same time, the health insurance industry is doing quite well, and Humana experienced a large profit the last several years. Any additional discount would boost Humana’s profitability while having a negative financial impact on Jennie Stuart,” Brown said.
JSMC is one of the most efficient and cost effective healthcare providers in western Kentucky and is financially sound, Eric Lee, president & CEO, JSMC, said.
“Not all of the nations’ hospitals have been able to accomplish this. Our goal is for JSMC to remain financially sound in the future,” Lee said.
The 194-bed, acute-care hospital has a 98-year history of serving southwest Kentucky and nearby counties of northern Tennessee.
In the past year, JSMC has improved several health and wellness services and earned accolades for several of them and others:
- The Joint Commission national health regulatory agency granted a full reaccreditation of the hospital for three years.
- We achieved a clinical milestone—12 straight months with no cases of ventilator-associated pneumonia among patients in the Intensive Care Unit.
- We earned a second accreditation from The American Academy of Sleep Medicine for our Sleep and Neurodiagnostic Center to provide sleep studies in the home.
- Patients now give JSMC high marks for six aspects of care—nurse communication, physician communication, responsiveness of hospital staff, cleanliness of patient rooms, pain management, and communication about medications—and these are improving steadily over the past year.
JSMC is a private, not-for-profit health organization that includes an acute-care medical center; free-standing medical imaging, outpatient surgery, laboratory, and rehabilitation services; and an integrated physician network. |