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The shift toward value-based payment in healthcare that countless advocates say will cut costs and improve the quality of care isn’t without its downsides. This week’s earnings show the evolution is weighing on some providers’ bottom lines.
As more of Universal Health Services’ behavioral health patients move from fee-for-service Medicaid to Medicaid managed-care programs, the for-profit hospital chain has watched its lengths of stay decline, a trend the company’s chief financial officer said it’s pushing back on. In UHS’ second-quarter earnings report last week, it revealed the average length of stay among its behavioral health patients declined 2.3% on average compared with the same quarter in 2017, and patient days declined 1.2%.