Tenet Healthcare Corp Company Profile

Our mission is to provide quality health care services within existing regulatory and managed care environments that are responsive to the needs of the communities we serve. To accomplish our mission, our operating strategies are to (1)'improve the quality of care provided at our hospitals by identifying best practices and exporting those best practices to all of our hospitals, (2)'improve operating efficiencies and reduce costs while maintaining or improving the quality of care provided, (3)'improve patient, physician and employee satisfaction, (4)' improve recruitment and retention of nurses and other employees, (5)'reduce bad-debt expense and improve cash flow, and (6)'acquire new, or divest existing, facilities as market conditions, operational goals and other considerations warrant. We adjust these strategies as necessary in response to changes in the economic and regulatory climates in which we operate and the success or failure of our various efforts.

We seek to operate our hospitals in a manner that positions them to compete effectively in the rapidly evolving health care environment. To that end, we sometimes decide to close, sell or consolidate certain facilities in order to eliminate duplicate services, non-core assets or excess capacity, or because of changing market conditions. From time to time, we make strategic acquisitions of, or enter into partnerships or affiliations with, general hospitals and related health care businesses.

Each of our general hospitals offers acute care services, operating and recovery rooms, radiology services, respiratory therapy services, clinical laboratories, and pharmacies; most offer intensive care, critical care and/or coronary care units, physical therapy, and orthopedic, oncology and outpatient services. A number of the hospitals also offer tertiary care services such as open-heart surgery, neonatal intensive care and neuroscience.

Eight of our hospitals'Memorial Medical Center, USC University Hospital, Saint Louis University Hospital, Hahnemann University Hospital, Sierra Medical Center, Western Medical Center Santa Ana, St. Christophers Hospital for Children and the Cleveland Clinic Hospital'offer quaternary care in such areas as heart, lung, liver and kidney transplants. USC University Hospital, Sierra Medical Center and Good Samaritan Hospital also offer gamma-knife brain surgery and Saint Louis University Hospital, Hahnemann University Hospital and Memorial Medical Center offer bone marrow transplants.

With the exception of the 25-bed Sylvan Grove Hospital located in Georgia and the 25-bed Frye Regional Medical Center'Alexander Campus located in North Carolina, which are designated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as critical access hospitals and which have not sought to be accredited, each of our facilities that is eligible for accreditation is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (in the case of rehabilitation hospitals), the American Osteopathic Association (in the case of two hospitals) or another appropriate accreditation agency.

With such accreditation, our hospitals are eligible to participate in government-sponsored provider programs, such as the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The two hospitals that are not accredited nevertheless do participate in the Medicare program by otherwise meeting the Medicare Conditions of Participation.

COMPETITION

Tenets general hospitals and other health care businesses operate in competitive environments. Competition among health care providers occurs primarily at the local level. A hospitals position within the geographic area in which it operates is affected by a number of competitive factors, including, but not limited to (1)'the scope, breadth and quality of services a hospital offers to its patients and physicians, (2)'the number, quality and specialties of the physicians who admit and refer patients to the hospital, (3)'nurses and other health care professionals employed by the hospital or on the hospitals staff, (4)'the hospitals reputation, (5)'its managed care contracting relationships, (6)'its location, (7)'the location and number of competitive facilities and other health care alternatives, (8)' the physical condition of its buildings and improvements, (9)'the quality, age and state of the art of its medical equipment, (10)'its parking or proximity to public transportation, (11)'the length of time it has been a part of the community, and (12)'the prices it receives for its services.

Accordingly, each hospital develops its own strategies to address these competitive factors locally. In addition, tax exempt competitors may have certain financial advantages not available to Tenets facilities, such as endowments, charitable contributions, tax-exempt financing, and exemptions from sales, property and income taxes.

A significant factor in our future success will be the ability of our hospitals to continue to attract and retain staff physicians. We attract physicians to our hospitals by equipping our hospitals with technologically advanced equipment and physical plant, properly maintaining the equipment and physical plant, sponsoring training programs to educate physicians on advanced medical procedures, providing high-quality care to our patients and otherwise creating an environment within which physicians prefer to practice.

We also attract physicians to our hospitals by using local governing boards, consisting primarily of community members and physicians, to develop short- and long-term plans for the hospital and to review and approve, as appropriate, actions of the medical staff, including staff appointments, credentialing, peer review and quality assurance. While physicians may terminate their association with a hospital at any time, Tenet believes that by striving to maintain and improve the quality of care at its hospitals and by maintaining ethical and professional standards, it will attract and retain qualified physicians with a variety of specialties.

Target 100 and Tenets Commitment to Quality are two important programs that we have adopted to enhance physician satisfaction and make our hospitals more attractive to physicians. The Target 100 program targets 100% satisfaction scores among patients, physicians and employees at Tenets facilities. Under the program, employees at every hospital are trained to focus on the following five pillars in every aspect of their jobs: Service, Quality, Cost, People and Growth. Tenets Commitment to Quality is focused on (1)'improving patient safety and the reporting of medical results, (2)'supporting physician excellence, (3)'improving the practice and leadership of nursing, and (4)'facilitating patient flow and care delivery. Our goal is to improve the quality of care provided at our hospitals by maximizing the most effective clinical practices.