Financial Stability of Hospitals and Health Systems

The average community hospital had a 5.1 percent return for 1997, but many hospitals were not so fortunate. There is large variation by census region and bed size. Cash flow to net patient revenue per certified financial statments indicates that 30.7 percent of community hospitals are in the distressed gorup of the reacting phase. Many distressed community hospitals will be coping with new challenges from the year 2000 compliance, resulting in an increase in the rate of insolvency. Some of the state laws for destroying medical records for an insolvent hospital do not protect the rights of former patients.