The inpatient, outpatient services that lose the most money

Reimbursements across all payers have fallen for five services, with an operating gap between -12.1% and -42.9%, an American Hospital Association report found.

The AHA report, released in May, analyzed the cost of providing care across inpatient and outpatient facilities with a focus on changes between 2021 and 2023.

"Hospitals and health systems have been at the forefront of a major transformation while at a crossroads of increasing demand for higher acuity care and deepening financial instability," the report said. "Persistent workforce shortages, severe fractures in the supply chain for drugs and supplies, and high levels of inflation have collectively fueled hospitals' costs as they care for patients 24/7."

Reimbursement challenges are not exclusive to Medicare and Medicaid. All payer types have seen a consistent decline below costs for reimbursements.

Here are five services that have seen the greatest operating losses in inpatient and outpatient settings:

Inpatient services

Behavioral health: -34.3%

Nephrology: -34.1%

Burns and wounds: -24.1%

Pulmonology: -19.4%

Infectious disease: -15.3%

 

Outpatient services

Burns and wounds: -42.9%

Nephrology: -32.3%

Behavioral health: -31.7%

Pulmonology: -17.5%

Infectious disease: -12.1%

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