New Jersey hospitals provided $2.6 billion in benefits beyond healthcare services to their communities in 2009, according to a new report from the New Jersey Hospital Association.
The report, "New Jersey Hospitals: Report of Community Benefit 2010," includes the value of free and discounted care for the poor, uninsured and senior citizens, community health offerings like immunization clinics and other wellness programs, education for future healthcare professionals, medical research and additional community programs.
“This report, for the first time, quantifies the dollar equivalent of those many community programs and services provided by New Jersey hospitals,” said NJHA President and CEO Betsy Ryan. “No municipality, county or even the state could afford to replicate the invaluable programs and services that hospitals provide to their communities.”
The NJHA collected data electronically from 58 of the state’s 73 acute care hospitals; other hospitals reported on a manual survey form. The NJHA used standardized reporting categories and definitions from the Catholic Healthcare Association and the Veterans Health Administration, which are widely used by hospitals across the country.
The $2.6 billion in community benefits tallied in the report include:
- Nearly $2.4 billion in unpaid costs of patient care, which includes $795 million in unreimbursed charity care services for the working poor, $417 million in unpaid care for Medicare patients and $168 million in unpaid care for Medicaid patients. This amount includes $1 billion in bad debt.
- $39.2 million in community health improvement services, which include programs such as health fairs, health screenings and immunization clinics.
- $82.7 million in health professions education for approximately 51,000 current and future healthcare workers.
- $157.3 million in other community services and programs, many of which go beyond the traditional definition of “healthcare programs.”
The report includes examples of “community benefit in action” – real-life stories of individuals whose lives were touched by hospitals’ charity care services, cancer screenings, healthy lifestyle programs and community donations.