How long can hospitals survive with negative margins?
A recent study has found that U.S. hospitals are apparently shifting the unreimbursed costs of caring for Medicare inpatients to other payers. So far, hospitals have found other sources of revenue to offset negative margins from patient care, but how much longer they can continue to do so is uncertain. The number of states in which hospitals were enjoying positive Medicare margins was found to have dropped from 44 to 13 during the study period.
Schuhmann
Thomas M
TM
Cost Report Data Resources, LLC, Louisville, KY, USA. tschuhmann@costreportdata.com
D004469:Economics, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends*; D018166:Health Care Reform; D006271:Health Facility Closure / Q000191:economics*; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics; D006278:Medicare / Q000191:economics; D012051:Reimbursement Mechanisms; D014481:United States