San Fernando Valley Business Journal

IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc. of North Hollywood announced that third quarter earnings increased 7 percent to $6.5 million, or $0.38 per diluted share. Third quarter revenue increased 26 percent to $114.5 million, with same-market area net revenue up 17 percent.

The company, a leading national hospitalist physician group practice, saw patient encounters increase to 1.2 million, a 25 percent increase. Income from operations increased 11% to $10.5 million.

"We are very pleased to again report strong revenue growth, with an increase of 26 percent in the quarter,” Dr. Adam D. Singer, chief executive officer, said in a statement. He said growth came from both acquisitions and new hires as the company continues to build out its platform. Over the past 12 months, the company also had a net increase of 271 providers, 78 of which came on board in the third quarter, largely through organic hiring, Dr. Singer said.

"The additional providers will help fuel our long-term growth. However, the large increase in providers in the third quarter resulted in lower productivity and higher costs during this ramp-up period,” Dr. Singer added. “In addition, the continued use of temporary staffing at several of our larger practices negatively impacted the contribution margin. As a result, practice cost as a percentage of revenue increased by 150 basis points from the same quarter last year. We expect that increased productivity from our new providers and a reduction in the use of temporary staff should result in an increase in the practice margins during the fourth quarter."

The company completed 12 acquisitions year to date, including the five acquisitions announced last week.