Eroding economics is often the major reason why a health system agrees to be acquired or merged. These mergers and acquisitions are occurring at an alarming rate.
In response to the latest National Hospital Flash Report from Kaufman Hall, the financial/performance consulting firm’s Senior Vice President, Eric Swanson, wrote that 2022 was “shaping up to be one of the worst financial years on record for hospitals.
“Expense pressures—particularly with the cost of labor—outpaced revenues and drove poor performance [in hospitals]. While emergency department visits and operating room minutes increased slightly, hospitals struggled to discharge patients due to internal staffing shortages and shortages at post-acute facilities,” Swanson noted.
Like their parent organizations, hospital and health system-based medical laboratories are dealing with ongoing staffing shortages.
Non-profit healthcare systems are particularly hard hit, leading to merger/acquisition deals that continue the trend of hospital consolidation, Dark Daily reports. Read more.
