Hospital financial losses mount amid COVID-19 resurgence: 5 things to know

Twenty-eight percent of hospitals in the U.S. reported losing money amid the COVID-19 resurgence, according to data from Strata Decision Technology, cited by Bloomberg Law.

Financial performance platform Strata included data from 295 hospitals in 36 states in its report.

Five things to know:

1. In a 30-day period ending Nov. 7, hospital admissions, observation visits, emergency room visits and outpatient visits all declined at twice the rate of the previous 30-day period, according to the data from Strata Decision Technology. 

2. In the two-week period ending Oct. 17, hospital visits declined for all 29 service lines studied, including orthopedics, which was down 14.8 percent and cancer treatment, which was down 3.9 percent,  compared to the two-week period ended Oct. 10.

3. The data suggests that patients are steering clear of hospitals and medical offices to avoid being exposed to COVID-19, according to the report. 

4. As more patients delay care and a growing number of hospitals postpone elective care, efforts to regain lost revenue from the first wave could be derailed, according to Bloomberg.

5. In a separate analysis, Strata found that 21 of 76 hospital systems, or 28 percent, had a negative operating margin as of September, according to Bloomberg.

 

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