| UCSF
STANFORD FINANCIALS Merger Results in $38 Million in First-Year Savings |
|
| During the first year of the merger, the four hospitals of
UCSF Stanford Health Care treated more than 58,000 patients, a nearly 6 percent increase
over the previous year, UCSF Stanford officials announced in November. At Stanford Hospital and Clinics alone, inpatient admissions between September 1997 and August 1998 totaled 21,597, up from 20,357 the previous year. And despite significant limitations on public and private health care reimbursements, organization officials said they expect to meet their first-year target of a $20 million operating return on $1.5 billion in revenue. UCSF Stanford officials said the merger's first year resulted in a $38 million savings, $20 million of which was due to decreased costs from joint purchasing and reductions in administrative overhead. "The merger has made us stronger and allowed us to focus on what we do best, translating cutting-edge research into improvements in patient care," said Peter Van Etten, president and CEO of the merged enterprise. "At the one-year mark, we have made significant progress in integrating our operations and have built an infrastructure that is allowing physicians to collaborate on improving clinical services." UCSF Stanford Health Care includes Stanford Hospital and Clinics, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford (LPCH), UCSF Medical Center and UCSF/Mount Zion Medical Center. Consolidation of pediatric services has been a focal point of UCSF Stanford since the early planning stages of the merger. During the first year, the patient-care services of LPCH and the pediatric program at UCSF Medical Center joined forces under an umbrella known as Lucile Packard Children's Health Services. Another key initiative launched this year is a coordinated UCSF Stanford Clinical Cancer Program, led by Charlotte Jacobs, professor of oncology at Stanford. The program facilitates collaborations among the 150 physicians specializing in cancer care at UCSF and Stanford. "Considering the difficult health care environment in which public and private payers are feeling pressure to cut costs, we will need to continue improving efficiency," Van Etten said in a prepared statement released in November. "This will be critical in order to secure the resources to support both the expansion of patient programs and our teaching and training mission." |
COLUMNS Chief of Staff NEWS Pharmacy earns highest ratings Merger results in $38 million in first-year savings Service workers vote for union representation Program available for neurodevelopmental disorders Staying ahead of the Y2K curve offers added clinical benefits New combination therapies recommended by Stanford-led stroke panel PAST ISSUES |