Christus Health Northern Louisiana

Community benefit reporting - charity care and medicaid Christus adheres to the catholic Health association's guide for planning and reporting community benefit (2016), and complies with the state of Texas requirements for reporting. Community benefit, reported as unpaid costs, includes both charity care and community services. To the limits of its resources, Christus Health is an institution of purely public charity; thus, the most tangible expression of Christus Health's charitable purpose is the provision of Health care services to those persons who are unable to pay. Charity care falls into two categories: charity care and unpaid government indigent care. In keeping with its mission, values and vision, Christus Health provides charity care services in a manner that respects the dignity of the patients and their families. Charity care is provided without charge or at a charge that is less than the usual charge for such services. The determination as to the amount to be charged, if any, is made according to a patient's ability to pay as determined by the established eligibility criteria. For uninsured patients whose economic circumstances place them at or under 300 percent of the federal poverty level (fpl), services are provided without any expectation of payment. Uninsured patients whose economic circumstances place them between 300 and 400 percent of fpl are charged based on a sliding scale, and those above 400 percent receive discounts based on the uninsured fee Schedule. No patient is refused necessary medical care due to his or her inability to pay. Christus Health is an active participant in the states of Texas and Louisiana medicaid programs. Those programs seek to provide payment for Health care services to individuals who meet certain financial and other requirements. Financial requirements include evaluation of both assets and income.

Other government sponsored programs in addition to the provision of charity care and other community services, Christus Health provides services to persons covered under government-sponsored programs, including medicare and tricare. The unreimbursed costs of these services are not included in reports prepared following catholic Health association guidelines. Christus Health provides services to persons covered under the federal medicare program, and in fact, this is the largest single payor classification of patients served by this Health system. The payment rate for inpatient services is on a per-case rate, calculated based on the diagnostic-related group (drg) into which the patient is categorized. Outpatient services are reimbursed by medicare based on its fee Schedule.

Commitment to benefiting our communities - patient care services Christus Health Northern Louisiana is part of Christus Health, formed in 1999 to strengthen the 156-year-old, faith-based Health care ministries of the congregations of the sisters of charity of the incarnate word of houston and san antonio. Founded on the mission "to extend the healing ministry of jesus christ," Christus is challenged to reach out to, and beyond, the more than 60 communities we serve to help those in need. The vision of Christus Health as a catholic, faith-based ministry, is to be a leader, a partner and an advocate in the creation of innovative Health and wellness solutions that improve the lives of individuals and of local and global communities so that all may experience god's healing presence and love. Christus Health Northern Louisiana responds to Health care needs through services provided by Christus highland medical center, a 212-bed integrated Health system located in south shreveport and Christus bossier emergency hospital, an eleven bed facility under the license of Christus highland medical center. The facilities of Christus Health Northern Louisiana shares one objective -- to lead the way to a healthier community. Christus Health Northern Louisiana is located in shreveport, Louisiana, which is in the northwestern corner of the state. Its service area extends to northeast Texas and southern Arkansas, which includes a population of more than 1 million individuals. In fiscal year 2022, we served hundreds of thousands of individuals in various ways including 45,689 visits to our emergency departments, 1,910 inpatient surgery procedures, 3,430 outpatient surgery procedures, 9,369 patients who were admitted to our hospitals for care and 144,021 patients who received outpatient care at our facilities, although this number may also reflect repeated visits by the same patient. Touching the lives of the people around us is what makes Christus Health Northern Louisiana stand apart. Interacting with community organizations, individual patients and clients gives us a vision for the medically needy in each of the communities we serve. Christus Health Northern Louisiana's Health care services work to provide the best care possible regardless of an individual's ability to pay. By collaborating with community organizations, churches, businesses, and other Health care organizations, Christus Health Northern Louisiana's various entities have strengthened their roles as major providers of comprehensive, accessible Health care services. These partnerships with community organizations have assisted Christus Health Northern Louisiana to further care for those in need. Furthermore, investment in community services would not be possible without dedicated associates and volunteers. They help to build strong relationships among the hospitals, other Health care ministries and the communities, nurturing Christus Health's mission to meet the needs and make a difference in the lives of others. Christus associates work both inside and outside the walls of our Health care facilities and are committed to helping our communities maintain good quality Health. Understanding the need to provide access to Health care to as many people as possible, Christus Health participates in government-sponsored Health care programs, including medicaid, medicare, champus, tricare and others. In addition, Christus Health Northern Louisiana offers specific programs which provide discount services to those in need who do not have medical insurance or who do not participate in government-sponsored programs. Christus Health Northern Louisiana also contracts with a company to screen individuals for government-sponsored programs such as medicaid and lachip. Christus Health Northern Louisiana provides a full range of inpatient and outpatient services to the people from the communities it serves. It conducts its activities and serves its Health care purpose without regard to race, color, creed, religion, gender, orientation, disability, age or national origin. Christus Health Northern Louisiana offers a broad spectrum of adult and surgical care services with the latest technology. These services include comprehensive cancer treatment, neonatal intensive care, cardiology services, inpatient and outpatient diagnostic and surgery services, and athletic clubs. Christus highland provides a 24-hour emergency room on-site and off-site in bossier city that serve all those in need of emergent care, regardless of their ability to pay. Christus highland partnered with a local fqhc, david raines community Health center to help fund the renovation of classroom space into Health center space and opening costs of a fifth school-based Health center in august 2019. Services offered at all five school-based Health centers include treatment for minor illnesses/injuries; routine physical and/or athletic examinations; immunizations; increased access to primary care; special awareness of std and teen pregnancy for high school students; obesity reduction; screening tests for hearing, vision, scoliosis, etc. ; referral and follow-up for acute and chronic illnesses (ex. Diabetes, asthma); and mental Health services, such as crisis, individual, family and/or group counseling. Christus highland provides numerous community benefit programs, of which, the top three highest cost programs are 1) the mlk health/sbhs free lab services program is an initiative with sbhs' community partner, mlk Health center, to provide access to care for mlk Health center's uninsured patients, who otherwise would most likely go without appropriate Health care. The Christus shreveport-bossier Health system lab provided free lab services for the mlk Health center, which is a free clinic in shreveport, la for uninsured poverty level patients with chronic diseases. The self-pay, one-year cost of these services would have cost a total of $195,764. 2) operations costs for cara center - in collaboration with the Louisiana state university Health science center, the cara center serves as a medical treatment location for abused and neglected children. Cara center provides suspected child abuse victims with a medical examination and follow-up counseling and provides community education on identifying and reporting suspected child abuse. 3) enrollment assistance - eligibility vendors assist community members with enrollment in public programs to increase access to quality healthcare services. They provide education and enrollment assistance to the uninsured population identified at the hospital. As a not-for-profit organization and as part of Christus Health, a regional governing board comprised largely of independent community members representing the area we serve guides Christus Health Northern Louisiana. Christus Health Northern Louisiana is privileged to have an open medical staff comprised of qualified physicians who provide care within our local communities. All qualified physicians are granted privileges to serve within Christus hospitals after undergoing a thorough and comprehensive credentialing process. Christus hospitals after undergoing a thorough and comprehensive credentialing process.

Community services for the poor and underserved rooted in our mission and tradition, founders and sponsors of Christus Health and those who co-minister with them seek new and innovative ways of delivering quality Health care that is both affordable and accessible to all. Today, more than ever, Christus Health strives to improve the total Health status of the community through programs that place services where they are needed the most, with special attention and preference given to programs that support and benefit the Health and welfare of the poor and underserved. Community services for the poor and underserved represent the unpaid cost of services provided for which a patient is not billed, or for which a fee has been assessed that recovers only a portion of the cost of the rendered service. This category includes initiatives that reach out to those in need through community Health and social programs. These programs seek justice for the vulnerable and work to bring about changes in our political and economic systems. The programs cover a broad spectrum of services including community clinics, education and wellness for teen moms, back to school children's program, community improvement, and a variety of other social services. Christus Health Northern Louisiana opens its doors to various community organizations, medical students, groups, clubs, state agencies, and support groups which need meeting and/or office space. This service is provided at no cost to these community, non-profit organizations or state agencies. Christus Health Northern Louisiana provides needed office space at little to no expense to various non-profit organizations such as the gingerbread house-a children's advocacy center. One example of Christus Health community benefits accounted for under community services for the poor and underserved include the Christus community direct investment program (cdi). The Christus board of directors approved the funding of a cdi loan program to ensure that the work of social accountability and moral and ethical stewardship continues in spite of challenging fiscal conditions faced by local operating entities. The purpose of the cdi program is to support community-driven initiatives primarily for affordable housing and economic development by providing financing at below-market interest rates to not-for-profit organizations at terms not exceeding more than five years. The income lost from the difference in the market rate less our loan rate (foregone income) is considered a community benefit for reporting purposes. The cost of these investments is not included in the program service expenses of Christus Health Northern Louisiana. All remaining loans were forgiven on 7/31/2018 so there was no outstanding loans at the end of the year. The foregone interest for Christus Health Northern Louisiana in fiscal year ending june 30, 2022 was $0. Christus Health established the Christus fund to provide resources to not-for-profit agencies and groups whose vision, mission and goals are consistent with Christus Health's mission, values and philosophy of a healthy community. We believe that by working together, we can make a profound difference in the quality of peoples' lives and create sustainable Health in our communities. During fy 2022, the total grant money distributed by Christus Health to the Northern Louisiana region was $175,000. The cost of these grants is not included in the program service expenses of Christus Health Northern Louisiana's other program services. Community services for the broader community the greatest share of these expenses is for educating Health professionals. Helping to prepare future Health care professionals is a distinguishing characteristic of not-for-profit Health care and constitutes a significant community benefit. Christus Health also used cash donations as a vehicle to help our communities. We made cash donations, in addition to grants awarded, to boy scouts of america, norwel council, mlk Health center, heart association-go red for women, american cancer society, komen of nwla, david raines community center, catholic diocese - prolife banquet, and for many other equally worthy purposes. During fy 2022, Christus Health advocated for improving public policies, working to establish, and in some instances augment, grassroots advocacy and greater access to Health care services for the constituents we serve.