Universal Health Services profits jump to $182 million in second quarter

Image of Friends Hospital, party of Universal Health Services, from friendshospital.com.

Universal Health Services on Thursday said it earned $182 million in the second quarter of 2015, a sizable jump compared to $152 million in the same period last year, as increases in acute-care admissions drove more revenue to the Pennsylvania-based for-profit hospital chain.

As a result, UHS said it is lifting its full year profit expectation to come in as high $7.15 per share, a 10 percent jump.

Second-quarter revenue for UHS jumped 11 percent to $2.28 billion, compared to $2.05 billion in the year-ago quarter.

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According to UHS, which manages  226 acute care hospitals, behavioral health facilities and ambulatory surgery centers, same-hospital admissions jumped by 5.7 percent in the quarter and patient days climbed by 5.2 percent, both on an adjusted basis.

Operating margins at acute-care facilities also inched higher to 19.8 percent, compared to 18.7 percent in the same period last year.

Charity care, which is not factored into the company's revenue totals, was $263 million in the quarter, down from $266 million in the second quarter of 2014.

As for UHS's behavioral health business, the company said same-facility admissions climbed 4.2 percent in the quarter while patient days only inched 0.6 percent higher.

For-profit hospitals have largely seen profits climb since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, since the higher number of people with insurance has led to more utilization at facilities.

[Also: 50 hospitals flagged for sky-high charges]

At the same time, some for-profit hospitals, especially those run by Hospital Corp. of America and Community Health Systems, have come under fire after a report found many of their facilities charge patients and commercial insurers as high as 10 times what Medicare pays for services.

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