Financial
performance
among
U.S.
hospitals
improved
toward
the
end
of
this
year’s
second
quarter
—
but
there
are
still
concerning
gaps
between
the
highest-
and
lowest-performing
organizations,
according
to
new
research
released
by
Kaufman
Hall.
The
consulting
firm
analyzed
data
from
1,300
hospitals
across
the
country
and
found
that
hospitals’
financial
margins
improved
to
3.7%
in
June,
up
from
1.9%
in
May.
The
report
noted
that
hospitals’
revenue
on
a
volume-adjusted
basis
grew
—
meaning
that
hospitals
are
actually
earning
more
per
patient,
rather
than
providers
just
seeing
more
people.
Hospitals
also
saw
increases
in
outpatient
revenue,
which
suggests
hospitals
are
figuring
out
how
to
best
utilize
their
outpatient
facilities.
“Higher
performing
hospitals
are
nimbler
on
both
the
revenue
and
expense
sides,”
Erik
Swanson,
managing
director
at
Kaufman
Hall,
said
in
a
statement.
“They
may
be
expanding
their
outpatient
footprint,
diversifying
services
or
managing
expenses
like
purchased
services
by
centralizing
some
functions.
They
are
also
more
likely
to
have
value-based
care
or
bundled
care
arrangements
in
place.”
In
an
interview
last
summer,
Swanson
pointed
out
that
hospitals
with
strong
finances
also
tend
to
place
a
strong
emphasis
on
patient
throughput,
which
leads
to
timely
and
appropriate
patient
discharges.
He
recommended
smaller
hospitals
take
actions
that
will
pay
off
no
matter
what
their
future
holds.
This
means
doing
things
like
tightening
up
day-to-day
operations
and
making
sure
they’re
accurately
capturing
all
the
revenue
they
are
owed.
These
steps
can
help
stabilize
a
hospital’s
finances
in
the
near
term
while
also
making
the
organization
more
attractive
for
future
partnerships
or
affiliations.
Kaufman
Hall’s
report
also
showed
that
hospitals’
bad
debt
went
up
in
June
compared
to
the
month
prior.
It
pointed
out
that
bad
debt
increased
at
a
greater
rate
than
in
previous
months,
which
could
signal
a
change
in
the
number
of
patients
who
are
covered
by
public
programs
like
Medicaid.
Additionally,
the
research
found
that
hospitals’
non-labor
expenses
and
purchased
services
continue
to
rise.
Despite
modest
improvements,
growing
costs
and
bad
debt
remain
serious
concerns
for
hospitals.
Without
a
sustained
focus
on
efficiency
and
revenue
capture,
weaker
organizations
could
become
even
more
unstable.
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PM
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