Hospital Operating Margins Down Nearly 20% Since Start of Year Due to COVID-19, Report Says
12/01/2020
Hospitals and health system operating margins fell nearly 20% since the start of 2020 as COVID-19 continues to roil provider finances, according to a new report from Kaufman Hall, FierceHealthcare reports.
The report released Monday found that hospital operating margins declined by 18.7% through October. But that figure balloons to nearly 70% without relief funding included in the CARES Act, underscoring the precarious financial position hospitals find themselves in eight months into the pandemic.
The consulting firm’s National Hospital Flash Report, which collects data from more than 900 hospitals, found that systems are struggling with declining patient volumes and higher costs for expenses.