Hospitals
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Industry Structure, How Firms Opertate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Quarterly Insight, Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 2,500 hospital firms in the US provide acute care and surgeries for patients on either a scheduled or emergency basis. Most hospitals are considered community hospitals, and are operated by non-profit, for-profit, or state or local government organizations.
Conflict with Insurers
While hospitals depend on private insurers for revenue, both groups struggle to agree on how best to treat patients.
Labor Shortage Deepens
Hospitals struggle with shortages of nurses, medical technicians, pharmacists, and other clinical workers.
Industry size & Structure
The average hospital employs about 1,800 workers and generates $438 million in annual revenue.
- A typical hospital has 100 to 300 beds and serves 5,800 to 11,200 patients annually.
- Most hospitals are considered community hospitals, and are operated by non-profit, for-profit, or state or local government organizations.
- There are about 2,500 hospital firms in the US with about $1.1 trillion in annual revenue.
- The largest US hospital companies include Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), Adventist Health, and Tenet Healthcare Corporation.
- The average length of stay in a hospital is 5-6 days.
- The average hospital occupancy rate in urban hospitals is about 62%, while the occupancy rate in rural hospitals is 37%.
- The majority of hospital employees are dedicated to patient care (doctors, nurses, aides and clinical workers). Other professions within a hospital are office/administrative support, cleaning and maintenance, management, food service, and community and social services.
Industry Forecast
Hospitals Industry Growth
Coronavirus Update
Apr 23, 2022 - COVID-19 Hospitalizations Hit New Low
- Fewer people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in the US in late April than at any other point in the pandemic, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services. The prior low point was in late June 2021, just before Delta became the dominant variant in the country. Covid-19 hospitalizations reached a peak in January 2022 amid the Omicron surge, when more than 160,000 people were hospitalized with Covid-19 at one time. About 10,400 people were hospitalized on April 20, 2022.
- The long-term shift from hospital-based care toward treatment in ambulatory centers and at home accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic and is expected to continue gaining momentum, according to Moody's Investors Service. Reimbursement changes, risk-sharing, investment in outpatient services including ambulatory surgery centers, advances in drugs and medical devices, and greater use of at-home acute care services are among the forces driving the movement away from more expensive hospital inpatient care.
- The US Supreme Court allowed a vaccine mandate to stand for medical facilities that take Medicare or Medicaid payments. "We agree with the Government that the [Health and Human Services] Secretary's rule falls within the authorities that Congress has conferred upon him," said the majority, writing that the rule "fits neatly within the language of the statute. After all, ensuring that providers take steps to avoid transmitting a dangerous virus to their patients is consistent with the fundamental principle of the medical profession: first, do no harm."
- Hospitals in areas with high numbers of new COVID-19 cases are being overwhelmed by those cases combined with patients returning for care for other ailments, according to The Wall Street Journal. Surgeries and treatments for cancer, heart disease, and other common conditions have rebounded this year, filling beds at many hospitals. At the same time, other respiratory viruses, such as RSV, have re-emerged along with public gatherings, adding to hospital strain. Many experts say that outcomes could be negatively impacted by the heavy case load.
- Pandemic-related payments to the largest hospital chains may have accelerated their acquisition plans by enabling them to purchase weakened competitors. CommonSpirit Health, a Catholic nonprofit system that is one of the biggest hospital networks, received well over $1 billion in federal aid to counter any financial losses caused by the shutdowns of lucrative elective surgeries and higher COVID-related costs. One of its divisions merged with Virginia Mason health system in Seattle in a move that strengthened CommonSpirit’s sway in Washington state. It also acquired a small hospital network in Arizona and helped start a company to analyze patient data across 40 states. Congress provided capital to hospitals that did not need it, according to Zack Cooper, a Yale health economist. “Regulators should really be looking at the transactions occurring,” he said.
- The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the availability of nearly $1 billion to strengthen COVID-19 response efforts and increase vaccinations in rural communities. The Health Resources and Services Administration, a part of HHS, will increase the number of vaccines sent to rural communities, expand testing and other COVID-19 prevention services, and work to increase vaccine confidence by empowering trusted local voices with additional funding for outreach efforts in underserved communities.
- Employment at hospitals was unchanged year over year in March, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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