Tenet fights bankruptcy rumors

Tenet has been through many troubles, but until recently, no one had publicly suggested the hospital giant was in danger of capsizing. Now, a stock analyst has raised concerns--which the company has been fighting to quell--that it might face bankruptcy within three years. Tenet is responding to a a Credit Suisse report suggesting existing threats to its profits, including its reliance on Medicare outlier payments, could destabilize it completely.

Of late, Tenet has been in turnaround mode, with execs working to restructure services within individual hospitals, improve collections and strengthen managed care contracts. To date it appears to have had some success, but lower-than-hoped-for patient volumes continue to be a problem. Also, the company still is recovering from its extensive legal troubles, which last year included a $725 million payment to settle Medicare billing charges.

To learn more about the analyst ratings kerfuffle:
- read this Modern Healthcare article (reg. req.)
- read this Tenet press release

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