Net revenue from patients is dipping for some acute care hospitals in Pennsylvania compared to three years ago, while operating margins are climbing, according to a new report from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.
Across the state, the hospitals' operating margins increased from an average of 4.25 percent to 5.46 percent during the 2015 fiscal year, which ended on June 30. At the same time, uncompensated care, a combination of uncollected debt and charity care, dipped by 8.6 percent, or $92 million. Prior to the last fiscal year, there was a steady increase in the dollar value of uncompensated care, which rose from $461 million in to $1.07 billion over the preceding 13 years.
From fiscal year 2014 to 2015, the statewide operating income for Pennsylvania hospitals increased 34.7 percent, from $1.7 billion to $2.3 billion, the report found.
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"While the data shows many of the 170 Pennsylvania hospitals experienced positive operating and total margins in fiscal year 2015, and uncompensated care dropped 8.6 percent, there were 49, or 29 percent, hospitals that lost money on operations and 46, or 27 percent, lost money overall," said Joe Martin, executive director of PHC4, in a statement.
The report offered a number of other findings. The statewide total number of patient days declined for the eighth consecutive year at Pennsylvania hospitals, from 8.35 million in fiscal year 2014 to 8.22 million in FY 2015.
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Additionally, hospitals reported a 2.5 percent increase in the number of outpatient visits, bringing the total number to 38.6 million. Outpatient revenue increased 6.0 percent, rising to $18.4 billion; and of the $40.2 billion in statewide net patient revenue, 53.7 percent, or $21.6 billion, was derived from inpatient care.
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