Hospital finances are stabilizing, Kaufman Hall data finds

Hospital financial performance remains stable halfway through 2024, according to the latest "National Hospital Flash Report" from healthcare consulting firm Kaufman Hall.

The report analyzed actual and budget data from more than 1,300 hospitals.

Overall, Kaufman Hall determined a median monthly operating index of 3.8% in July 2024. The monthly operating index grew slightly from June's 3.3%, after falling from 4.3% in May.

Key indicators like outpatient revenue and average lengths of stay show continued improvement, with shorter stays also contributing to reduced expenses.

"The theme of 2024 has been stability," Erik Swanson, senior vice president of data analytics at Kaufman Hall, said in an email statement for RevCycleManagement. "We're seeing improvements across the board, especially in outpatient revenue and shorter average length of stay."

"Notably, the reduction in average length of stay has also led to significant decreases in expenses, further bolstering hospital performance," Swanson added.

However, despite strong overall hospital performance in 2024, health system performance has been trending lower than hospitals alone, the report found. 

Hannah Nelson has been covering news related to health information technology and health data interoperability since 2020.