Analysis of Hospital Operating Margins and Provision of Safety Net Services.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Safety net hospitals (SNH) provide many community services. The cost of providing these services is unknown.

Objective

To determine what safety net criteria are associated with differences in hospital operating margin.

Design, setting, and participants

This cross-sectional study of US acute care hospitals from 2017 to 2019 included eligible hospitals identified from US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Cost Reports.

Exposures

Five domains of SNH: undercompensated care measured using the Disproportionate Share Hospital index, uncompensated care, essential community services, neighborhood disadvantage, and sole community hospital and critical access hospital status. Each was categorized as a quintile or binary response. Covariates included hospi

SUBMITTER: Gaffney LK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10114034 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature