The report, title “Report on the Economic Crisis: Initial Impact on Hospitals,” shows that hospitals are seeing a decline in patients and a growing number of patients struggling to pay for their care.
The report is based upon survey results from 736 hospitals and DATABANK, a web-based reporting system used in 30 states to track key hospital trends.
Highlights of the report’s findings include:
- 15 percent increase in interest expense over the past year;
- 25 percent of respondents reporting a moderate decrease in patients seeking elective; procedures; 6 percent reporting significant decrease;
- 29 percent reporting a moderate decrease in overall admissions overall; 9 percent report a significant decrease in admissions;
- 51 percent of hospitals reporting a moderate to significant increase in uncompensated
- care as a percent of total revenues; and
- uncompensated care was up 8 percent from July to September versus the same period last year.
Hospitals are seriously considering or making a number of changes to reduce costs. These measures include (with number of percentage of hospitals reporting making or considering the change in parentheses):
- Cutting administrative costs (59 percent)
- Reducing staff (53 percent)
- Reducing services (27 percent)
- Divesting assets (12 percent)
- Considering merger (8 percent)
The economic crunch is also forcing hospitals to hold back investments, with 56 percent of respondents indicating they are considering or holding off on renovation or expansion plans, 45 percent delaying purchase of clinical technology or equipment, and 39 percent delaying investments in new information technology.
Read the AHA’s report on the economic impact on hospitals (pdf).
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