Patient discharges fell 6 percent in the most recent quarter from the same period a year earlier, while imaging tests dropped by more than 7 percent, said John G. O’Brien, chief executive of the Worcester-based system. He said the numbers are declining as the system prepares to shift from a fee-for-service model to so-called global payments, under which insurers give hospitals and doctors a budget to provide patient care.
“We’re getting ready for the future,’’ O’Brien said, noting that the first phase of the restructuring will cut 150 jobs at the Worcester medical center. “We feel like we have to be more affordable. We hear that every day from employers in the Worcester area.’’
He also cited anticipated payment cuts from Medicare and Medicaid, the government health insurance programs covering older and low-income residents, on top of earlier reductions in reimbursements.
Many of the same financial strains have been affecting other Massachusetts medical care providers. Hospital groups ranging from Boston Medical Center to Cambridge Health Alliance to Northeast Hospital Corp. of Beverly have slashed hundreds of jobs over the past two years. Sixteen hospitals, nearly a quarter of those in the state, have been losing money, according to a report last year. Last month, Taunton State Hospital, which houses 169 mentally ill patients, said it would close its doors, while long-term care provider Kindred Healthcare Inc. said it will shut its 45-bed Waltham hospital.
A report published last week by Moody’s Investors Service, the New York-based credit rating agency, said the “outlook remains negative’’ for the nonprofit health care sector, which has long dominated the hospital landscape in Massachusetts.
“Ongoing uncertainty about health care reform and severe federal budgetary stress is putting pressure on hospital management teams as they prepare for the coming era of lower reimbursements and difference payment schemes,’’ the report said.
