Research Alert: April 15, 2020

Profitability of Rural and Urban Hospitals

To help policymakers, researchers, and communities understand which hospitals are likely to be less profitable, this series of three policy briefs and an infographic examines:

• Geographic Variation in the 2018 Profitability of Urban and Rural Hospitals
  The geographic variability in 2018 profitability of Critical Access Hospitals, other rural hospitals, and urban Prospective Payment System (PPS) hospitals by census region, census division, and state.
• Rural Hospitals with Long‐Term Unprofitability
  The characteristics of rural hospitals that had a negative total margin in 2016, 2017, and 2018.
• 2016‐18 Profitability of Urban and Rural Hospitals by Medicare Payment Classification
  The 2016-18 profitability of urban PPS hospitals compared to that of rural hospitals. Rural hospitals are further divided by size of rural PPS hospitals and by the rural Medicare payment classifications.
• Understanding the Broader Context of Rural Hospitals and Profitability
  This infographic is also included to quantify rural hospital profitability in the broader context of all hospitals. It compares the number of rural and urban hospitals and rural and urban operating revenue and operating income.

Additional Resources of Interest:

• 2012-14 Profitability of Urban and Rural Hospitals by Medicare Payment Classification
• Change in Profitability and Financial Distress of Critical Access Hospitals From Loss of Cost-Based Reimbursement
• Effect of Surgery on the Profitability of Rural Hospitals
• Geographic Variation in the 2016 Profitability of Urban and Rural Hospitals
• Geographic Variation in the Profitability of Urban and Rural Hospitals
• More information about the North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
• More information from the Rural Health Information Hub's topic guides: Critical Access Hospitals, Rural Health Policy