Baylor Scott & White sees growth in outpatient services

The migration from inpatient to outpatient care is in full force at Baylor Scott & White Health, and so far, the shift looks good for the not-for-profit system.

At first, the numbers look gloomy. The Dallas-based system’s admissions fell nearly 7% year-over-year in the nine months ended March 31, to about 166,000. Emergency department visits fell 4% in that time, and patient days dropped nearly 6%. That’s even as the system increased its number of licensed beds by almost 2%.

Yet, at the same time, outpatient surgeries grew nearly 7% year-over-year to about 159,000. Outpatient revenue as a percentage of total patient revenue grew from 61% in the nine months ended March 31, 2018, to more than 63% in the recently ended period.

Baylor Scott & White’s operating margin grew to 7.9% in the nine months ended March 31, from 6.9% in the prior-year period. That’s well above the 1.7% national median operating margin for U.S. not-for-profit and public hospitals in 2018, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

The system’s operating income jumped more than 18% year-over-year, to $584 million in the nine months ended March 31.

A Baylor Scott & White spokeswoman did not provide a comment on the system’s results.