Report: Financial Pressures On Hospital Operating Margins Easing
A monthly Kaufman Hall analysis found while rising labor costs pushed hospital operating margins down from 2021 to 2022, pressure may be easing as expense growth slowed and inpatient volumes rose. But Bloomberg says Moody's is warning hospitals of bad debt as Medicaid enrollment changes.
Modern Healthcare:
Kaufman Hall: Signs Of Hospital Margin Stability Emerging
Hospital operating margins continued to decline in 2022 as labor expenses climbed, but financial pressures may be easing, according to a new report. The median hospital operating margin dropped 39% from 2021 to 2022 as labor costs increased 9%, a monthly Kaufman Hall analysis of data from more than 900 hospitals found. However, expense growth slowed and inpatient volumes improved in December, which could signal a more stable financial outlook for early 2023, analysts said in the report. Here are five takeaways from the data. (Kacik, 1/30)
Bloomberg:
Moody's Warns Hospitals Of More Bad Debt As Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Ends
Hospitals will likely see bad debt soar when a pandemic-era rule expires allowing states to kick patients off Medicaid April 1, according to a January report from Moody’s Investors Service. The rule had encouraged states to keep beneficiaries continuously enrolled — regardless of eligibility — in order to receive higher reimbursements. Once states start trimming their rolls, however, hospital revenue is expected to decline as health-care providers will need to assume costs from an expected wave of uninsured patients. (Coleman-Lochner, 1/30)
In other health care industry news —
Axios:
Trauma Support In High Demand From Companies Amid Relentless Wave Of Tragedies
Mental health professionals are seeing an increase in requests from companies for trauma support training. From self-care practices to recognizing the physiological impacts of trauma, more organizations have realized that workers can't just be expected to handle the trauma on their own, according to Ruth Yeo-Peterman, a resilience programming trainer with the Center for Victims of Torture. (King, 1/30)
The New York Times:
Barbara Stanley, Influential Suicide Researcher, Dies At 73
Barbara H. Stanley, a psychologist and researcher who developed a simple, effective tool for suicide prevention, died on Wednesday in a hospice in Scotch Plains, N.J. She was 73. Her daughter, Melissa Morris, said the cause was ovarian cancer. Dr. Stanley, a professor of psychology at Columbia University and the director of suicide prevention training at New York State Psychiatric Institute, helped propel a major shift in the field of mental health as researchers began to view suicide as a distinct problem that could be directly addressed, rather than as a symptom of another disorder. (Barry, 1/29)
