Community Benefit Insight - Tax-exempt hospital

View data for this organization below, or select additional hospitals to create a comparison view.

Search tax-exempt hospitals
for comparison purposes.

Southwest Healthcare Services

Southwest Healthcare Services

802 3nd Street Nw
Bowman, ND 58623

Bed count	23	Medicare provider number	351313	Member of the Council of Teaching Hospitals	NO	Children's hospital	NO

EIN: 450458242

Display data for year:

Community Benefit Spending- 2021
(as % of functional expenses, which all tax-exempt organizations report on Form 990 Schedule H)

12.79%

Spending by Community Benefit Category- 2021
(as % of total functional expenses)

* = CBI denoted preventative categories

Community Benefit Spending Compared to Functional Expenses, 2010-2021

Additional data

Community Benefit Expenditures: 2021

All tax-exempt organizations file a Form 990 with the IRS for every tax year. If the tax-exempt organization operates one or more hospital facilities during the tax year, the organization must attach a Schedule H to Form 990. On Part I of Schedule H, the organization records the expenditures it made during the tax year for various types of community benefits; 9 types are shown on this web tool. By default, this web tool presents community benefit expenditures as a percentage of the organization’s functional expenses, which it reports on Form 990, Part IX, Line 25, Column A. (The more commonly heard term, ‘total operating expenses’, which organizations report to CMS, is generally about 90% of the ‘functional expenses’). The user may change the default to see the dollar expenditures.
Amount spent in the following IRS community benefit categories:

Financial Assistance at cost as % of operating expenses	$ 98,000 0.64 %
Medicaid as % of operating expenses	$ 100,446 0.65 %
Costs of other means-tested government programs as % of operating expenses	$ 0 0 %
Health professions education as % of operating expenses	$ 0 0 %
Subsidized health services as % of operating expenses	$ 1,759,229 11.41 %
Research as % of operating expenses	$ 0 0 %
Community health improvement services and community benefit operations* as % of operating expenses Note: these two community benefit categories are reported together on the Schedule H, part I, line 7e.	$ 14,402 0.09 %
Cash and in-kind contributions for community benefit* as % of operating expenses	$ 0 0 %
Community building* as % of operating expenses	$ 20,498 0.13 %

* = CBI denoted preventative categories

Community building activities details:

Did tax-exempt hospital report community building activities?	YES
Number of activities or programs (optional)	3
Physical improvements and housing	0
Economic development	0
Community support	0
Environmental improvements	0
Leadership development and training for community members	0
Coalition building	0
Community health improvement advocacy	3
Workforce development	0
Other	0
Persons served (optional)	100
Physical improvements and housing	0
Economic development	0
Community support	0
Environmental improvements	0
Leadership development and training for community members	0
Coalition building	0
Community health improvement advocacy	100
Workforce development	0
Other	0
Community building expense as % of operating expenses	$ 20,498 0.13 %
Physical improvements and housing as % of community building expenses	$ 0 0 %
Economic development as % of community building expenses	$ 0 0 %
Community support as % of community building expenses	$ 0 0 %
Environmental improvements as % of community building expenses	$ 0 0 %
Leadership development and training for community members as % of community building expenses	$ 0 0 %
Coalition building as % of community building expenses	$ 0 0 %
Community health improvement advocacy as % of community building expenses	$ 20,498 100 %
Workforce development as % of community building expenses	$ 0 0 %
Other as % of community building expenses	$ 0 0 %
Direct offsetting revenue	$ 6,450
Physical improvements and housing	$ 0
Economic development	$ 0
Community support	$ 0
Environmental improvements	$ 0
Leadership development and training for community members	$ 0
Coalition building	$ 0
Community health improvement advocacy	$ 6,450
Workforce development	$ 0
Other	$ 0

Other Useful Tax-exempt Hospital Information: 2021

In addition to community benefit and community building expenditures, the Schedule H worksheet includes sections on what percentage of bad debt can be attributable to patients eligible for financial assistance, and questions on the tax-exempt hospital's debt collection policy. When searching a specific tax-exempt hospital in this web tool, Section II provides information about bad debt and the financial assistance policy, and whether the state in which the tax-exempt hospital resides has expanded Medicaid coverage under the federal ACA.

Of the tax-exempt hospital’s overall operating expenses, amount reported as bad debt as % of operating expenses	$ 208,133 1.35 %
Is the tax-exempt hospital considered a "sole community hospital" under the Medicare program?	NO

Information about the tax-exempt hospital's Financial Assistance Policy and Debt Collection Policy
The Financial Assistance Policy section of Schedule H has changed over the years. The questions listed below reflect the questions on the 2009-2011 Schedule H forms and the answers tax-exempt hospitals provided for those years. The Financial Assistance Policy requirements were changed under the ACA. In the future, as the Community Benefit Insight web site is populated with 2021 data and subsequent years, the web tool will also be updated to reflect the new wording and requirements. In the meantime, if you have any questions about this section, we encourage you to contact your tax-exempt hospital directly.

Does the organization have a written financial assistance (charity care) policy?	YES
Did the tax-exempt hospital rely upon Federal Poverty Guidelines (FPG) to determine when to provide free or discounted care for patients?	YES
Amount of the tax-exempt hospital’s bad debt (at cost) attributed to patients eligible under the organization’s financial assistance (charity care) policy as % of operating expenses	$ 41,627 20.00 %

Did the tax-exempt hospital, or an authorized third party, take any of the following collection activities before determining whether the patient was eligible for financial assistance:
Under the ACA, states have the choice to expand Medicaid eligibility for their residents up to 138% of the federal poverty guidelines. The Medicaid expansion provision of the ACA did not go into effect until January 2014, so data in this web tool will not reflect each state's current Medicaid eligibility threshold. For up to date information, please visit the Terms and Glossary under the Resources tab.
The federal poverty guidelines (FPG) are set by the government and used to determine eligibility for many federal financial assistance programs. Tax-exempt hospitals often use FPG guidelines in their Financial Assistance policies to determine which patients will qualify for free or discounted care.
In addition to the federal requirements, some states have laws stipulating community benefit requirements as a result of tax-exemption. The laws vary from state to state and may require the tax-exempt hospitals to submit community benefit reports. Data on this web tool captures whether or not a state had a mandatory community benefit reporting law as of 2011. For more information, please see Community Benefit State Law Profiles Comparison at The Hilltop Institute.

Community Health Needs Assessment Activities: 2021

The ACA requires all 501(c)(3) tax-exempt hospitals to conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) every three years, starting with the hospital's tax year beginning after March 23, 2012. The 2011 Schedule H included an optional section of questions on the CHNA process. This web tool includes responses for those hospitals voluntary reporting this information. The web tool will be updated to reflect changes in these questions on the 2012 and subsequent Schedule H forms.

Did the tax-exempt hospital report that they had conducted a CHNA?	YES
Did the CHNA define the community served by the tax-exempt hospital?	YES
Did the CHNA consider input from individuals that represent the broad interests of the community served by the tax-exempt hospital?	YES
Did the tax-exempt hospital make the CHNA widely available (i.e. post online)?	YES
Did the tax-exempt hospital adopt an implementation strategy to address the community needs identified by the CHNA?	YES

Supplemental Information: 2021

This section presents qualitative information submitted by the hospital, verbatim from the 990H record.

Statement of Program Service Accomplishments
Description of the organization's program service accomplishments for each of its three largest program services, as measured by expenses. Section 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations are required to report the amount of grants and allocations to others, the total expenses, and revenue, if any, for each program service reported.

4A (Expenses $ 13263365 including grants of $ 0) (Revenue $ 13032489)
Southwest Healthcare Services (Southwest) consists of a 23-bed acute care hospital, 24-bed nursing facility, 12-unit apartment complex, 12-unit assisted living facility, visiting nurse service agency, clinic, and ambulance service located in Bowman, North Dakota.Southwest Healthcare Services is organized to provide quality health care services for individuals in the surrounding community. Southwest Healthcare Services operates an acute care hospital, nursing facility, rural health clinic, ambulance service, outpatient therapy services and elderly living facilities. Southwest operates a full time emergency room and provides emergency care regardless of ability to pay. Southwest also provides clinical services needed to operate the emergency center and provides on-site emergency medical, rescue and medical transportation services.Southwest Healthcare Services provides non-emergency services to the community making these services accessible to the community through participation in government programs like Medicare and Medicaid and our own charity care program. Services are provided to all individuals regardless of individual status. Southwest Healthcare Services charity care program provides discounted and free services to patients that are unable to be fully responsible for the cost of the health care they receive. Southwest Healthcare Services is committed to responding to the increasing number of patients who are under-insured or without insurance and who need to seek healthcare services at our facility. To fulfill its mission of community service, Southwest provides care to these patients who meet certain criteria under its charity care policy without charge or at amounts less than its established rates. Because Southwest does not pursue collection of amounts determined to qualify as charity care, they are not reported as patient and resident service revenue. The estimated cost of providing charity care for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $98,000. This year was one of the highest for providing charity care.Southwest Healthcare Services reaches out to people and communities throughout southwestern North Dakota, northwestern South Dakota and eastern Montana through specific health events and health education, for example: reduced rate sports physicals for students, health fairs, and skin cancer screenings. However, due to COVID-19, we were unable to do as much community outreach compared to prior years. We were unable to hold a health fair in 2021, similar to 2020. Fortunately, our ambulance and sports medicine were able to volunteer at sporting events and other community events in 2021. This helped increase our community benefit compared to 2020. In 2021, we held COVID vaccine clinics in addition to our normal flu vaccine clinics to help the community.

Facility Information

Schedule H (Form 990) Section C. Supplemental Information for Part V, Section B.

Southwest Healthcare Services
Part V, Section B, Line 5: A Community Advisory Committee was organized with specific individuals from the community served. Personal invitations were sent to organizations representing various community, business, educational and religious groups. Representatives from the local healthcare providers and the county public health department were included to bring in additional professional perspective.

Southwest Healthcare Services
Part V, Section B, Line 11: In the most recent CHNA conducted the following needs were identified and prioritized as the top three needs: ability to retain primary care providers; attracting and retaining young families; and availability of mental health services. Depression and anxiety was also identified as the fourth highest need.The organization will not be addressing depression and anxiety separately as this will be addressed partly by making mental health services available. As a healthcare organization, we will only be able to address this concern medically and by promoting the tele-psych services we currently offer.The need to retain primary care providers was identified as the top priority in the 2019 CHNA. In 2021, we had one physician start in January 2021. We recruited a second physician that started working in August 2021. We also had a third physician signed as a supplemental physician that started in January 2021. With these physicians, we are fully staffed in our medical staff. Another need identified was attracting and retaining young families. We were unable to recruit and relocate any employees with young families in 2021.Our third highest prioritized need to increase the availability of mental health services has not changed in 2021.

Southwest Healthcare Services
Part V, Section B, Line 13h: The Organization uses a Soft credit check. Also presumptive eligibility may be used to determine eligibility for financial assistance based on the individuals life circumstances that may include: 1. State funded prescription programs;2. Homeless or received care from a homeless clinic;3. Participation in Women, Infants and Children programs (WIC);4. Food stamp eligibility;5. Subsidized school lunch program eligibility;6. Eligibility for other state or local assistance program that areunfunded (e.g. Medicaid spend-down);7. Low income/subsidized housing is provided as a valid address; and8. Patient is deceased with no known estate.

Southwest Healthcare Services
Part V, Section B, Line 16j: A summary of the financial assistance policy and financial assistance contact information can be found at the admissions desk in the hospital, clinic, and online. The financial assistance application is also summarized on the back of our billing invoices.

Part V, Section B, Line 7b:
Ruralhealth.und.edu/projects/flex/hospitals#bowman

Part V, Section B, Line 16a:
http://swhealthcare.net/patient/financials/financial-assistance-policy.html

Part V, Section B, Line 16b:
http://swhealthcare.net/patient/financials/financial_assistance_form.html

Part V, Section B, Line 16c:
http://swhealthcare.net/patient/financials/assistance.html

Supplemental Information

Schedule H (Form 990) Part VI

Part I, Line 3c:
There are instances when a patient may appear eligible for financial assistance but the patient has failed to submit a Financial Assistance Application or an Application has been submitted but a proper determination cannot be made due to the lack of adequate information or supporting documentation. Often there is adequate information provided by the patient through other sources which could provide sufficient evidence to provide the patient with assistance. In the event there is no evidence to support a patient's eligibility for financial assistance, Southwest Healthcare Services could use outside agencies in determining estimated income amounts for the basis of determining financial assistance eligibility and potential discount amounts. Presumptive eligibility may be determined on the basis of individual life circumstances that may include:1. State funded prescription programs;2. Homeless or received care from a homeless clinic;3. Participation in Women, Infants and Children programs (WIC);4. Food stamp eligibility;5. Subsidized school lunch program eligibility;6. Eligibility for other state or local assistance program that are unfunded (e.g. Medicaid spend-down);7. Low income/subsidized housing is provided as a valid address; and8. Patient is deceased with no known estate.

Part I, Line 7:
Charity care expense was converted to cost on line 7a based on an overall cost-to-charge ratio addressing all patient segments. Community health improvement services, line 7e, are reported based on actual expenseamounts recorded from the events in the general ledger. The costs for Medicaid reported on line 7b were determined using the Medicaid Cost report and the cost for subsidized health services reported on line 7g were determined using the Medicare Cost Report.

Part II, Community Building Activities:
Southwest Healthcare Services provides EMS staff support at public sporting events such as Motocross races, rodeos, and school sport activities. Support is also provided to the high school in the form of sports medicine for their sports activities.

Part III, Line 2:
The amount reported on line 2 represents implicit price concessions. Southwest determines its estimate of implicit price concessions based on its historical collection experience with this class of patients and residents.

Part III, Line 3:
Based on our review, it is safe to reasonably estimate that 20% of implicit price concessions is attributable to patients eligible under our charity care policy. If these individuals would have completed the paperwork required to obtain financial assistance, they may have qualified. Southwest Healthcare Services does not refuse service to patients that are unable to pay. This is evidence that the care is given for community benefit motivations.

Part III, Line 4:
The footnote to the Organization's financial statements can be found on page 12 and 13 of the attached audited financial statements.

Part III, Line 8:
IRS Rev. Rul. 69-545, which established the community benefit standard for nonprofit hospitals, states that if a hospital serves patients with government health benefits, including Medicare, then this is an indication that the hospital operates to promote the health of the community. In some communities, Medicare is the largest payer, and hospitals must accept these patients regardless of whether they make a surplus or deficit from providing such services. If the Medicare participation is premised on this fact, then providing Medicare services promotes access to healthcare services which is a community benefit. Also, the elderly are often an underserved population who experience issues with access to healthcare services. Without tax-exempt hospitals like Southwest Healthcare Services providing Medicare services, the government would bear the burden of directly providing services to the elderly.Medicare allowable costs were obtained from the Medicare cost report. The Medicare Cost Report is completed based on the rules and regulations set forth by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Part III, Line 9b:
Southwest Healthcare Services will not engage in extraordinary collection actions (ECA) before it makes a reasonable effort to determine whether a patient is eligible for financial assistance.Reasonable efforts shall include:1. Validating that the patient owes the unpaid bills and that all sources of third party payment have been identified and billed by the hospital;2. Documentation that the patient has been offered a payment plan but has not honored the terms of that plan;3. Documentation that Southwest Healthcare Services has offered and has attempted to offer the patient the opportunity to apply for financial assistance and that the patient has not complied with the hospital's application requirements;4. Documentation that Southwest Healthcare Services has exerted efforts to notify patients about an impending ECA. These efforts should include:a. Providing patients with a 30-day written notice before initiating collection activities. This 30-day written notice shall include a copy of the Financial Assistance Policy Plain Language Summary;b. Making oral attempts to contact patients, using their contact information on file, about an impending ECA as well as informing patients about the availability of Southwest Healthcare's Financial Assistance Policy;5. Providing for a Notification Period of 120 days from the date of the first post-discharge billing statement during which Southwest Healthcare is required to notify the patient of the availability of FinancialAssistance. ECAs may only start after this Notification Period has elapsed and no Financial Assistance has been submitted by the patient;6. Providing for an Application Period of 240 days from the date of the first post-discharge billing statement during which Southwest Healthcare is required to accept and deliberate on a Financial Assistanceapplication that a patient may submit, while taking into consideration the following:a. If a patient submits an incomplete application during the Application Period, Southwest Healthcare must:i. Suspend any ECAs already initiated;ii. Inform the patient by way of a written notice what additional information or documentation is required;iii. Provide the contact information of the Financial Counselor who may assist the patient in completing the Financial Assistance application;If the patient fails to provide the additional information or documentation after 30 days from notification, Southwest Healthcare may resume ECAs.b. If a patient submits a complete application during the Application Period, Southwest Healthcare must:i. Suspend any ECAs already initiated;ii. Determine whether the application meets the eligibility criteria for Financial Assistance.iii. Inform the patients within 30 days by way of a written notice of the result of the determination and the basis for the decision.

Part VI, Line 2:
In addition to completing a Community Health Needs Assessment every 3 years, Southwest Healthcare assesses health care needs of the community in the following ways: Satisfaction surveys are sent to patients and residents. Our department heads get together once a month to discuss issues or opportunities within their departments. Certain department heads also meet with the Board of Directors to discuss their departments and community health needs within the community. Health fairs are held within our service area. If any feedback is given from patients attending the health fair, it is brought to the attention of the administrator.

Part VI, Line 3:
A summary of our financial assistance policy and financial assistance contact information can be found at the admissions desk in the hospital, clinic, online, and on the back of our statements. Financial assistance contact information is included in patient bills and is discussed with patients as well as the availability of various government benefits, such as Medicaid or state programs. Patients are assisted with qualification for such programs where applicable. Employees who are responsible for registering patients are asked to consider/screen patients who may appear to qualify or who have asked about financial assistance. The registration clerk is to give the patient a brochure explaining the Financial Assistance program which contains information on how to access the Patient Financial Services Representative (PFS) to obtain assistance.

Part VI, Line 4:
The community is largely agricultural based but in recent years the oil and gas industry has grown extensively. We anticipate that this will increase at an even greater pace in the next several years thus increasing the patient base that our organization will serve. The city we reside in is located at an intersection of two main highways in the state of North Dakota. Southwest Healthcare Services is the largest employer in the city and serves an area that extends approximately 45 miles in all directions, North, South, East and West. There is one other rural health clinic in our city limits that is operated by another healthcare facility which is 40 miles from our city.Southwest Healthcare Services serves over 5,200 people in rural counties of Bowman and Slope, North Dakota and Harding County in South Dakota. We have been very fortunate to have an unemployment rate in 2017 of 2.3% in Bowman County, 2.6% in Slope County and 2.3% in Harding County and a median income in 2016 of $63,000 for our service area. In 2017, approximately 9.3% of the person's under the age of 65 were without health insurance.

Part VI, Line 5:
Southwest Healthcare Services extends medical privileges to all providers in the community, and has a community board. Any surplus funds are used for investments in both capital assets, and medical equipment which improve services available as well as the quality of care that we give to the patients in our service area.Southwest Healthcare Services operates an emergency room available to all regardless of ability to pay. The Hospital participates in education and training of healthcare professionals and serves as a vehicle to attract and effectively use donated funds. Southwest Healthcare Services provides EMS staff support at public sporting events such as Motocross races, rodeos, and school sport activities. Support is also provided to the high school in the form of sports medicine for their sports activities. We do health fairs in 6 communities across our service area. We provide CPR and first aid classes to local coaches. We participate in job shadow events and career fairs.

Operating expenses	$ 15,419,251
Total amount spent on community benefits as % of operating expenses	$ 1,972,077 12.79 %