The report said that of the 102 rural hospitals in Minnesota, 59 percent operated with net margins of less than five percent, while nearly 25 percent were not solvent. Twenty-eight rural hospitals have also closed since 1987, the report also said, while eight hospitals have joined larger health systems in the past 18 months.
With so many rural hospitals barely breaking even, electronic health record systems, while embraced, are years away from full meaningful use implementation. However, the report stated that some Minnesota hospitals collaborate through group purchasing organizations to help bear EHR costs.
Read the Minnesota Public Radio report on rural hospitals’ electronic health records.
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