A lethal influenza season that brought record hospitalization rates helped drive quarterly growth at two of the largest U.S. for-profit healthcare companies.
Tenet Healthcare reported net income of $98 million for the quarter through March 31, compared with a $52 million net loss in the same time period in 2017. Severe flu infections, the company said in its earnings report, spurred increased urgent-care visits and buoyed revenue in the non-surgical business by 11.8 percent.
The 2017-2018 season saw record-breaking hospitalization rates for flu, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hospitals reported 30,064 influenza-related admissions since October 2017, and 160 children have died.
At HCA Healthcare, net income for the first period of the year was $1.14 billion, a significant increase from $659 million in the same period in 2017, driven partially by increases in influenza-related admissions and emergency room visits.
“Approximately 29 percent of our admission growth was flu-related, and approximately 50 percent of our emergency room visit growth was flu-related,” Chief Operating Officer Samuel Hazen told investors on a call.
The two companies reported differing effects on scheduled surgeries. Jason Cagle, chief financial officer for Tenet’s outpatient business, told investors that flu-related cancellations had a “definite impact” on the overall number of procedures, while Hazen said it had none at HCA.
“I don’t think that we can point to any unusual seasonality driving outpatient activity,” he said.
