Tenet Loss Widens on Litigation Costs

Tenet Healthcare Corp. seems to still be going through the ?it?s going to get a whole lot worse? phase rather than reaching the ?before it gets better? happy ending.

Tenet reported Wednesday that its second-quarter loss jumped to $398 million, citing spending on litigation as one of the reasons for one of its worst summers ever. This time last year, Tenet was only reporting a $33 million loss.

Outpatient visits and hospital admissions fell ? especially among patients covered by managed-care plans, Business Week shares. Additionally, the hospital took on more uninsured and charity cases.

And those litigation costs weren?t anything to sneeze at, either. In May, Tenet agreed to pay $21 million to settle charges of making illegal kickbacks to doctors in San Diego; and in June, the company agreed to pay $900 million in settlement charges to Medicare, who claimed bilking from Tenet.

Tenet is hoping that equipment upgrades will entice doctors to send patients to their hospitals, which could make up for lost patient revenue, putting Tenet that much closer to ?before it gets better.?