Financial Management
鈥淪ome analyses seem to suggest that anything above a zero percent margin is inherently bad, as though the operating goal of hospitals and health systems should be to incur financial losses,鈥 write AHA鈥檚 Bharath Krishnamurthy, director of policy and health analytics, and Benjamin Finder, director of鈥
Given the historic financial pressures borne by hospitals and health systems over the last eighteen months, there is tremendous focus on organizations鈥 margins. Simply put, this metric tells us how an organization鈥檚 costs compare to their revenues and is one, but not the only, indicator of a鈥
A recent JAMA-published study on U.S. hospitals鈥 financial performance during the COVID-19 public health emergency suffers from several methodological setbacks that undermine its credibility, writes Aaron Wesolowski, AHA鈥檚 vice president of policy, research, analytics and strategy.
America鈥檚 hospitals and health systems, regardless of size, location and ownership type, provided essential care to their patients and communities during the pandemic. Congress recognized the critical role hospitals play as the backbone of our health care system and swiftly took steps in the early鈥
An article in the Wall Street Journal, 鈥淪ome Hospitals That Spent Big on Nurses During Pandemic Are Now Short on Cash,鈥 continues to reaffirm that hospitals and health systems are facing myriad financial challenges that threaten access to care and services that patients and communities rely on.
A recently published article in Health Affairs on hospital finances and financial assistance uses a flawed, debunked methodology to justify preconceived conclusions about how hospitals manage their finances.
The AHA is pushing back against a recent Health Affairs article that uses flawed, debunked methodology in an attempt to undermine hospitals through preconceived notions of how the field鈥檚 finances are managed.
AHA statement for the record to the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health to provide the hospital perspective on how hospital mergers and acquisitions can expand and preserve access to quality care.
Hospital and health system margins improved slightly in March, but continue to sit at 鈥渞azor-thin, near-zero levels,鈥 putting hospitals in a vulnerable position should a recession or a new public health emergency materialize, according to the latest report on hospital finances by Kaufman Hall.
Research presented by acclaimed health care finances expert Lisa Goldstein, senior vice president for Kaufman Hall, show that times are tough but hospital leaders indicate there are silver linings from the COVID-19 pandemic that will pay dividends moving forward.