Columbia/HCA Healthcare Services Companies

Columbia/HCA Healthcare Services Companies

Columbia/HCA is one of the largest healthcare services companies in the United States. Founded in 1987, the company sought to provide one-stop shopping for managed care providers. In 1996, Columbia/HCA managed 314 hospitals, approximately 7 percent of hospitals in the United States. The company also conducts operations in the United Kingdom, Spain, and Switzerland, and recorded more than 40 million patient visits in 1996.

Environmental factors affecting the healthcare industry

Access to healthcare is not a legal right in the United States as it is in Europe, Canada and most other industrialized nations. In the rest of the world, access to healthcare is a right for all citizens paid for either by social insurance funds with member and employer contributions or from tax funding. The cost of health insurance and medical care has ballooned; therefore, increasing numbers of individuals have been forced to forego medical care because they could not afford health insurance, or the expense of uninsured medical care. In 1992, there was an estimated 36 million U.S. residents without health care insurance.

The predominant demographic issue affecting the healthcare industry in 1997 was the aging of the population. However, culturally, increased emphasis is being placed on healthy lifestyle choices, including both healthy eating and exercising. Politically, President Clinton’s health care reform proposal is an issue of growing concern. The proposal was criticized as being too sweeping and complex in nature, resulting in its failure. The health sector’s share of the U.S. economy has reached approximately 14 percent of the gross domestic product in 1992, and it is predicted...

... middle of paper ...

...

Financial Analysis with respect to competitors

Columbia/HCA’s major competitors include Tenet Healthcare, Humana Healthcare, Apria Healthcare, and PacifiCare Haelthcare. Both Tenet and Humana operated in several states within each goegraphic region of the United States. Both companies also competed head to head with Columbia in the hospital management field.

During the fourth quarter of 1999, sales at Columbia/HCA Healthcare totalled $3.94 billion. This is a decline of 10.8% from the $4.42 billion in sales Columbia had during the fourth quarter in 1998. During the year ended December of 1999, sales at Columbia/HCA were $16.66 billion. This is a decrease of 10.8% versus 1998, when the company’s sales were $18.68 billion. While Colmbia’s sales decreased in 1999, Columbia, Tenet, and Humana all experienced an increase in sales, between 5.4% and 12.7%.