Oxford earnings problems due to billing foul-ups
Oxford earnings problems due to billing foul-ups
Norwalk, CT-based Oxford Health Plans, known in the industry for willingness to take risks on ventures such as coverage of alternative health care and a willingness to pass on global risk (note to Ann: global risk is a term common to our readers) to specially selected provider pools, is apparently suffering from too much expansion.
The company announced in early fourth quarter that it had been losing money because it fell behind in sending bills to customers and underestimated how much it owed physicians and hospitals.
Eight months of billing delays
The company also had discovered that many customers were paying premiums, often because Oxford was late in sending bills during the period from September 1996 to May 1997, according to a report in The New York Times.
"When you add 500,000 members a year, it’s hard to keep up," Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst Kenneth S. Abramowitz told The New York Times. "A company can only digest so much change at one time."
Oxford chairman Stephen F. Wiggins said the company had cleared most of its technological problems up, but would add about half a percent to spending on administration in 1988 in an effort to ensure there would not be billing problems in the future.
The following are sources used in this month’s issue of Managed Care Strategies.
Ralph Anderson, MD, FACOG, FRCS(C), President of Texas Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, John Peter Smith Hospital, 1500 S. Main St., Fort Worth, TX 96104. Telephone: (817) 927-1065.
Connie Barron, Associate Director of Legislative Affairs, The Texas Medical Association, 401 W. 15th St., Austin, TX 78701. Telephone: (512) 370-1365.
Brian Eades, MD, Obstetrician/Gynecologist, Women’s Healthcare Associates, 1901 Medipark Place, Suite 200, Amarillo, TX 79106. Telephone: (806) 358-5121.
Timothy T. Flaherty, MD, Radiologist; member of Executive Committee, Board of Trustees, American Medical Association; Radiology Associates of the Fox Valley, 1209 S. Commercial, Neenah, WI 54956. Telephone: (920) 722-1582.
Ken Lamastus, CA, Executive Vice President, Arkansas Medical Society, P.O. Box 55088, Little Rock, AK 72215. Telephone: (501) 224-8967.
Merrill Matthews Jr., PhD, Vice President of Domestic Policy, National Center for Policy Analysis, 12655 N. Central Expy., Suite 720, Dallas, TX 75243-1739. Telephone: (972) 386-6272. Fax: (972) 386-0924.
Kathryn Moore, Managing Director for Government Relations, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 409 12th St. SW, Washington, DC 20024-2188. Telephone: (202) 638-5577.
Dan Dworsky, MD, Vice President and Medical Director of the Resource Management Department, Scripps Clinic Medical Group, 10666 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037. Telephone: (619) 554-8374.
Randy Killian, MBA, MS, Executive Vice President, American Association of Integrated Healthcare Delivery Systems, 4435 Waterfront Drive, Suite 101, Glen Allen, VA 23060. Telephone: (804) 747-5823.
Sandra McGraw, MBA, JD, Principle, The Health Care Group, Suite 200, 140 West Germantown Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462. Telephone: (610) 828-3888, Ext. 3314.
John Nelson, MD, Hospitalist, Co-founder of National Association of Inpatient Physicians, 4603 SW 83rd Drive, Gainesville, FL 32608. Telephone: (352) 333-5113. E-mail: [email protected].
Tim Rearick, Director of Business Development, Shands at AGH Hospital, 801 SW 2nd Ave., Gainesville, FL 32601. Telephone: (352) 338-2199.
Tom Schmidt, MD, Internist, Administrator, Park Nicollet Medical Group, 3800 Park Nicollet Blvd., Minneapolis, MN 55416. Telephone: (612) 993-3791.
Winthrop F. Whitcomb, MD, Co-founder of National Association of Inpatient Physicians and Hospitalist, Mercy Hospital, 271 Carew St., Springfield, MA 01104. Telephone: (413) 748-9321.
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