Net operating revenue per calendar day was up 9% year over year and 2% month over month in October. Comparatively, total expenses per calendar day grew just 5% year over year and were flat month over month.
Outpatient revenue continues to rocket, jumping 12% year over year and 3% month over month. Health system executives have been developing strategies to move further services into outpatient settings, virtual care and home-based care over the last year to keep up with national trends for value-based care and cut unnecessary hospital expenses.
Inpatient revenue per calendar day was up 7% year over year in October and 2% month over month. Compared to 2020, inpatient revenue is up 15% while outpatient revenue soared 43%.
On the expense side, supply costs continued to challenge hospitals. The supply expenses per calendar day jumped 11% year over year and 4% month over month in October. With many hospitals focused on ways to cut labor costs through employee retention efforts and reducing reliance on contract labor, hospitals saw just 3% year over year increase in labor expenses per calendar day. Month over month labor expenses were flat.
The report also noted labor expenses per adjusted discharge dropped 5% year over year, and are now down 6% compared to 2020.
Hospitals have been able to move patients through more quickly than last year, with a 5% increase in discharges per calendar day and 9% decrease in observation patient days as a percentage of patient days. The total average length of stay was also down 7% year over year in October.
Regionally, the revenue and expenses varied:
West
Net operating revenue per calendar day YoY: 10%
Expenses per calendar day YoY: 7%
Midwest
Net operating revenue per calendar day YoY: 5%
Expenses per calendar day YoY: 2%
South
Net operating revenue per calendar day YoY: 13%
Expenses per calendar day YoY: 7%
Northeast / Mid-Atlantic
Net operating revenue per calendar day YoY: 6%
Expenses per calendar day YoY: 3%
Great Plains
Net operating revenue per calendar day YoY: 10%
Expenses per calendar day YoY: 6%
