HFMA – March 16, 2009.

The average total margin for hospitals reporting financial information to DATABANK fell to negative 7.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 from positive 4.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to a report released by the American Hospital Association (AHA) and Colorado Hospital Association (CHA).

Hospitals in 28 states report financial data to DATABANK, a CHA database. More than half of these hospitals reported a negative margin in fourth-quarter 2008. Patient discharges fell 0.5 percent from the prior-year quarter, potentially indicating patients are putting off care, while the cost of uncompensated care rose 6.6 percent and the cost of capital rose 12 percent.

Read the report.