With our nation's economic troubles, fewer patients are seeking hospital care while at the same time a growing proportion of patients need help paying for care, according to a new report from the American Hospital Association. The report also notes that hospitals, which employ 5 million people nationwide, could be facing uncertain times as their financial health falters and ability to borrow funds for improving facilities and updating technology is squeezed.
Many hospitals are beginning to see the effects of the economic downturn, with more than 30 percent of survey respondents reporting a moderate to significant decline in patients seeking elective procedures and nearly 40 percent of respondents reporting a drop in admissions overall. The majority of hospitals surveyed also noted an increase in the proportion of patients unable to pay for care. Uncompensated care was up 8 percent from July to September versus the same period last year, according to the report.
Hospitals have seen the immediate impact of the economic downturn in other ways. According to the report, total margins fell to negative 1.6 percent in the 3rd quarter of 2008 as opposed to positive 6.1 percent during the same period last year. Like many institutions, hospitals rely on investment income as one of the ways to help make ends meet, especially since government payers do not cover the costs of care. However, recent turmoil in the stock market has turned investment gains to losses, further worsening hospitals' financial condition.
Read the report.
