Staff development, financial stability and patient service are among the areas that the state’s largest community health center is targeting as it finalizes its strategic plan.

Donnie L. Hilliard, CEO of the Family Health Centers Inc., said the health care center has removed $2.4 million in uncollectible debt from its balance sheet and now looks forward to ending fiscal 2007 with “a break-even situation.”

“Two years ago, we were going through what we had classified as our financial-recovery plan. We are still in that recovery mode. We haven’t arrived where the board and chairman want us to be, but we are in what I would classify as a break-even situation,” said Hilliard, noting the fiscal year 2007-2008 audit report is slated to be finalized shortly.

He said management decisions had to be made to offset a $1.1 million loss that has been included in the preliminary audit figures.

“We were carrying some accounts receivable that have been on the books for quite some time -- some as much as five years old -- which makes it very difficult to plan. The decision was made this year to clean up our accounts receivable (balance sheet), and we wrote off $2.4 million of uncollectible debt,” Hilliard said.

“As the audit report will reveal once it’s finalized, we had a $1.1 million loss, but there’s a break-even situation for the year itself. Now that we have eliminated all of the uncollectible debts and our documents reflect current mode of operation, we’re moving forward,” he said.

A new patient-management and billing system involves an electronic medical records system that Hilliard said has worked to reduce errors.

“We have now completed that implementation. When a patient comes in now, we can pull that patient’s records up on a computer. We’re getting a lot of patients come in with new data and corrected data ... and the challenge we have now,” he said.

An emergency room diversion plan is another idea the center has explored with the Regional Medical Center.

“We’re doing some further analysis with them on that. We’re trying assist in the cost of health care by providing an alternative to going to the emergency room when there’s really not an emergency,” Hilliard said.

“That’s an idea that has been floated around, but there are a lot of logistics to that,” RMC Vice President Brenda Williams said. “We haven’t really gotten into any detailed planning on that.”

The center’s search for revenue had led to a disagreement with the RMC. The center withdrew most of its doctors from the hospital in November 2006 after the RMC board refused its request for a payment of $500,000, plus $300,000 in future years.

The RMC board instead agreed to provide FHC with $200,000 over a six- to seven-month period, leading the center to stop serving most of its patients admitted to the hospital. There are currently no FHC physicians providing services at the hospital.

FHC Board Chairman Henry Jenkins said, “We have not done anything with the hospital on that issue. No discussion has taken place since that time.”

Williams said while negotiations are not taking place on that particular issue, the RMC wants to maintain a healthy relationship with the FHC.

“We value Family Health Center. We think they are a community asset. We want to support Mr. Hilliard and his leadership at the Family Health Center,” she said.

“Right now, we don’t have any in-hospital services at the Regional Medical Center. Our patients are referred to the hospital, and then the hospital’s hospitalist program is their managing provider through that. We don’t have any OB (obstetrical) doctors, and we are in some serious negotiations with some local OB doctors to finalize a collaborative effort,” Hilliard said, to provide OB/GYN services.

The FHC currently contracts with Edisto OB/GYN Dr. Jerome Degen for services until negotiations are finalized.

“We’re very close. Right now, we’re just working to finalize the strategic plan,” Hilliard said, which will include enhancing the center’s external image, staff development, patient services and financial stability.

“With the new patient-management system and the revisions to the accounting software, we are in a position now where we can at least track finances and make adjustments to ensure that we are floating instead of going down,” he said of the center, which provides comprehensive care from pediatrics and adult medicine to podiatry and dental services to all citizens, uninsured or not.

“We want to expand into the community and get the word out ... about the services we offer here. I’m thankful that the hospital is opening up their doors to help us with this strategic planning process. Collaboration is what’s necessary for the both of us to provide quality service to patients,” Jenkins said.

n T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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