Positive gain of $1M for OMC

Financially-troubled Oconee Medical Center took in one million dollars more than it spent during February, but its financial officer cautioned against the notion that happy days are here again. Kevin Herbert’s report to the hospital board reflected one-time payments from the federal government for implementing electronic medical records. And Herbert stressed the words one-time. Because Oconee Medical Center met “meaningful use” criteria for the implementation and the use of electronic medical records, the hospital earned about $2.5 million in funds from Medicare and Medicaid. As a result, OMC reported a positive margin of $1,045,656 for the month of February, from operations and investments combined. But Herbert said the hospital does not expect any additional meaningful use payments this fiscal year. Without the federal dollars, OMC would have lost about $1.5 million for the money—because of lower-than-expected patient numbers.