Hospital margins had a slight increase in March despite significant patient volume declines, according to Kaufman Hall’s “National Hospital Flash Report” released May 7.
Kaufman Hall, a Vizient company, analyzed data from 1,300 hospitals compiled by Strata Decision Technology. The report found:
- Median hospital margins grew from 2.7% in February to 3.1% in March. Year to date, hospital margins hit 3.3%, an improvement from last April when the average margins were 1.9%. The first quarter operating margin increased 2 percentage points year over year, and rocketed 60 percentage points compared to the first quarter of 2022.
- Revenue was flat on average despite patient volume declines, according to the report. The median net operating revenue per calendar day dropped 4% month over month but was up 9% year over year. Inpatient and outpatient revenue per calendar day was up 10% over the same period last year.
- Discharges per calendar day dropped 5% from February due to fewer patients with the flu and other respiratory illnesses, according to the report. However, discharges were up 4% year over year and 9% compared to 2022. Emergency department visits also dropped 5% month over month but were up 2% year over year.
- Total expenses per calendar day increased 7% year over year, driven by supply and drug expenses. Here is the broader expenses per calendar day breakdown:
- Labor: 6%
- Non-labor: 9%
- Supply: 11%
- Drugs: 11%
- Purchased services: 10%
- Bad debt and charity care per calendar day dropped 7% compared to February, but were up 9% year over year and 32% compared to 2022.
