Non-profit hospitals play a vital role in the communities they operate in. Beyond delivering care to patients in need, these facilities provide a range of tailored benefits, activities, and programs to improve the health and health literacy of their local communities.
What percentage of hospitals in the U.S. are non-profit?
According to our database and research from the Annual Review of Public Health, nearly 60% of acute care hospitals in the U.S. are non-profit. Definitive Healthcare tracks nearly 3,400 non-profit hospitals in our database.
Using the Definitive Healthcare HospitalView product, we created a list to rank the ten non-profit hospitals in the U.S. with the highest net patient revenue (NPR), according to the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database. Hospitals calculate NPR by subtracting deductions (such as charitable donations, bad debt, and contractual adjustments) from the gross revenue received for all patient care performed.
Which non-profit hospitals have the highest net patient revenue?
The non-profit hospital with the highest net patient revenue is New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center with an NPR of $7,691,623,214. Located in New York City, the facility is one the largest in New York state, as it also tops our nationwide lists of hospitals with the highest net patient revenue and number of discharges.
The non-profit hospital with the second highest net patient revenue is Tisch Hospital with an NPR of $6,636,774,000. Also located in New York City, this facility is one of the largest academic medical centers (AMCs) in the country and is affiliated with the New York University School of Medicine. Like New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, it also places on our national lists for both net patient revenue and number of discharges.
Rounding out the top three non-profit hospitals by NPR is Cleveland Clinic Main Campus, located in Cleveland, Ohio. With an NPR of $6,378,833,101, this facility is also one of the largest in the country and had the highest percentage of outpatient claims across all U.S. hospitals in 2022, with 3.2% of total outpatient claims.
Three of the top 10 non-profit hospitals on our list are located in New York and also account for the top three spots on our list of the top 25 hospitals in NY ranked by NPR.
Where are most non-profit hospitals located?
Many non-profit hospitals in the U.S. with the highest NPR operate in major cities or heavily populated states. The same is true for our list, as California, Florida, New York, and Ohio are among the ten most populated states in the country.
What are the sources of revenue for non-profit hospitals?
Because non-profit hospitals are not owned by investors and don’t have access to equity markets, they must generate revenue in other ways. Non-profit facilities essentially have two main sources of funding: either by earning revenue from operations and other patient services or by borrowing funds through issuance of debt in the bond markets.
Eventually, non-profit hospitals use these funding sources to build strong financial reserves. These reserves help ensure that they can meet the medical needs of their community, even in times of operational disruption and financial distress.
How do non-profit and for-profit hospitals compare?
According to the IRS and Affordable Care Act, most non-profit hospitals are classified as charitable organizations. This means that these facilities don’t pay federal income or state and local property taxes. In return, however, non-profit hospitals are expected to provide benefits to their community.
Year-over-year, nonprofit hospitals offer billions of dollars in charitable benefits. This includes financial assistance, unreimbursed Medicaid care, unreimbursed benefits through means-tested government programs, and more.
For-profit hospitals are investor-owned hospitals or networks. These facilities attempt to generate a profit for their shareholders. HCA Healthcare is one of the largest networks of for-profit hospitals in the U.S.
Beyond non-profit and for-profit hospitals, there are government-owned hospitals that are fully funded by taxpayers. Many of these facilities are associated with medical schools. NYC Health + Hospitals (HHC) is regarded as the largest municipal healthcare system in the U.S.
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