Hospital and health system leaders are continuing to navigate persistent upward pressure on supply and pharmaceutical expenses, with cost acceleration varying by region, according to Kaufman Hall’s “National Hospital Flash Report” based on data collected in April 2025 and released in early June.
The data is sampled from Strata Decision Technology’s survey of more than 1,300 hospitals nationwide, and including hospitals of all sizes.
Nationally, supply expenses per calendar day rose 9% year over year, marking a steady climb and pushing the year-to-date increase versus 2022 to 26%, due to continued inflation, heightened utilization, and ongoing disruptions in the global supply chain. When normalized by adjusted discharge, the increase was more modest at 4% year over year, indicating that higher costs may be more related to price factors than volume growth.
Drug spending followed a similar pattern. Per calendar day drug expenses rose 7% year over year, and 19% compared to the same period in 2022. On a per-adjusted-discharge basis, drug spending grew just 3% year over year, and declined 3% when compared to 2022.
Where costs are accelerating and where they’re not
- Northeast / Mid-Atlantic hospitals faced the sharpest increases across both categories. Supply expenses per calendar day surged 14% year over year, with drug expenses growing at the same pace. These organizations are also the only group to report positive growth in drug expenses per adjusted discharge year-to-date versus 2022 (+6%).
- The Great Plains region is experiencing the fastest drug cost acceleration, with calendar day drug expenses up 15% YoY and 43% higher than 2022 levels. Supply costs are similarly steep, up 13% YoY and 32% since 2022.
- In the West, both supply and drug expenses continue to outpace national trends: supply costs per calendar day are up 10% YoY, and drug costs rose 9% YoY, with calendar day costs 22% above 2022 benchmarks.
- The South and Midwest report the smallest increases. While supply expenses per calendar day in the South are up 7% YoY, adjusted discharge figures show a 2% decline year-to-date compared to 2022. The Midwest saw just 2% YoY growth in supply costs per adjusted discharge, and a 7% drop year-to-date versus 2022.
Here are the full statistics for supply and drug expenses from Kaufman Hall’s report.
Overall
Supply expenses per calendar day:
- Year over year: 9%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 26%
Supply expenses per adjusted discharge:
- Year over year: 4%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 2%
Drug expenses per calendar day
- Year over year: 7%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 19%
Drug expenses per adjusted discharge:
- Year over year: 3%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: -3%
West
Supply expenses per calendar day:
- Year over year: 10%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 30%
Supply expenses per adjusted discharge:
- Year over year: 6%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 5%
Drug expenses per calendar day
- Year over year: 9%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 22%
Drug expenses per adjusted discharge:
- Year over year: 5%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 0%
Midwest
Supply expenses per calendar day:
- Year over year: 6%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 20%
Supply expenses per adjusted discharge:
- Year over year: 2%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: -7%
Drug expenses per calendar day
- Year over year: 5%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 18%
Drug expenses per adjusted discharge:
- Year over year: -1%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: -14%
South
Supply expenses per calendar day:
- Year over year: 7%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 25%
Supply expenses per adjusted discharge:
- Year over year: 3%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: -2%
Drug expenses per calendar day
- Year over year: 5%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 8%
Drug expenses per adjusted discharge:
- Year over year: 1%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: -11%
Northeast / Mid-Atlantic
Supply expenses per calendar day:
- Year over year: 14%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 23%
Supply expenses per adjusted discharge:
- Year over year: 8%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 0%
Drug expenses per calendar day
- Year over year: 14%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 25%
Drug expenses per adjusted discharge:
- Year over year: 12%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 6%
Great Plains
Supply expenses per calendar day:
- Year over year: 13%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 32%
Supply expenses per adjusted discharge:
- Year over year: 7%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 11%
Drug expenses per calendar day
- Year over year: 15%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 43%
Drug expenses per adjusted discharge:
- Year over year: 11%
- Year to date 2025 vs. 2022: 16%
