Well-kept secret. Despite a lack of clearly defined standards, hospitals are under increasing pressure to publicly report charity-care figures.
Because hospitals have wildly divergent policies on reporting how much charity care they deliver, some fear the standards are so lax that they won't be able to defend their tax exemptions in court. Charity-care data are "all over the map," says Susan Sherry, left, deputy director of Community Catalyst.
Jaklevic
Mary Chris
MC
D002608:Charities / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006788:Hospitals, Voluntary / Q000191:economics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D016134:Organizational Policy; D019464:Tax Exemption / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D017664:Uncompensated Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States