Erlanger at Hutcheson officials announced that the north Georgia health system marked an October loss of $395,802 against a projected loss for the month of $204,761.

“Hospital operations did well on lower volume, but the primary loss was attributed to a billing company transition in the Hutcheson Medical Division,” said Roger Forgey, president and CEO. “We have budgeted small monthly losses for five of the next seven months for expenses related to the implementation of our new electronic medical records system.”

He said the electronic medical records system is scheduled to go live in April 2013 and that the hospital expects to earn a profit of more than $3 million for the 2013 fiscal year, the first annual profit in five years.

Despite the loss, October earnings reflected a $1.08 million improvement versus October 2011. Compared to last year, the patient census for October was up 32 percent, total surgeries were up 16 percent, and seven percent more patients visited Hutcheson’s emergency room.

Officials also noted increased births and cancer center visits in October over the previous month, along with a steadily improving commercial and Medicare payer mix.