Hospital margins jumped 3.8 percentage points in January over 2023, a promising start to the year, according to data from Syntellis, part of Strata.
Syntellis surveyed the financial performance of more than 1,300 hospitals nationwide and found the median hospital operating margin was 5.2%. The report noted many hospitals had revenue gains outpace expense increases, but there was a drop in days cash on hand.
The average EBITDA margin was up 3.6 percentage points to start the year.
Notably, outpatient revenue was up 10.6% and inpatient revenue jumped 9.6%, while total expenses rose 5.6% year over year, driven by a 7% increase in non-labor expenses. Labor expenses were up 3.6% year over year, according to the report.