Average health system operating margins held steady in June while hospital margins dropped slightly, according to Strata's Monthly Healthcare Industry Financial Benchmarks, published July 25.
The survey includes data from more than 1,600 hospitals and 135,000 physician groups in the U.S. The median year-to-date health system operating margins for June were 2.3% for the second consecutive month while the national averages dropped slightly for hospitals to 4.9% month over month.
Hospitals are seeing elevated expenses and inpatient revenue compared to 2023, but declines across the board compared to May:
Month over month
- Total expenses: 2.8% drop
- Labor expenses: 3% drop
- Non-labor expenses: -2.7% drop
Year over year
- Total expenses: 4.8% increase
- Labor expenses: 5.2% increase
- Non-labor expenses: 3.3% increase
Average inpatient revenue also dropped 5.4% month over month but was up 4.7% year over year. Outpatient revenue also declined 7.6% month over month.