Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, the state’s largest health maintenance organization, squeaked out a $200,000 profit in the fourth quarter largely on the strength of its investment portfolio.
The health care provider, which is investing roughly $320 million over a five-year period to expand its facilities statewide, said Monday it broke even with its operating income but ended in the black as its investments accounted for all of its earnings.
A year ago Kaiser had a net loss of $600,000 and an operating loss of $300,000.
Revenue increased 5.1 percent during the quarter to $295.9 million to match its operating expenses for the period.
Kaiser’s operating expenses have risen partly as a result of its expansion. Expenses rose 4.7 percent in the fourth quarter from $281.9 million in the year-ago period, and for the year increased 3.2 percent to $1.16 billion from $1.13 billion in 2012.
Significant capital investments last year included expansion and improvements at its Moanalua Medical Center & Clinic with the completion of the new Mauka Tower project which added 42 patient beds, including 18 new private rooms in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, as well as new diagnostic imaging technology.
Additional investments included the new Pearlridge Clinic, newly renovated Koolau Medical Office, new Maui Lani Elua Rehabilitation Specialty Center and the new Kapolei Clinic pharmacy.
Kaiser, which serves 230,000 members in 22 medical facilities statewide, plans to open a 40,000-square-foot Kona medical campus by the middle of this year and a new gastroenterology center in its Mapunapuna Clinic in May.
The insurer, which has 500 physicians and providers, said its electronic medical record system allowed its members to refill more than 207,945 prescriptions online in 2013 and view 603,228 lab results.
Kaiser said its members consulted with their personal physicians through email more than 176,530 times.
For the year, Kaiser had a net loss of $900,000 compared with a profit of $1.7 million in 2012. It had a full-year operating loss of $4.7 million that widened from an operating loss of $1.6 million in 2012.
Full-year revenue rose 2.9 percent to $1.16 billion from $1.13 billion.
