The National Association of Public Hospital and Health System (NAPH) released its annual member characteristics report, America’s Safety Net Hospitals and Health Systems, 2010, found that NAPH members delivered increasing levels of outpatient and inpatient services and that uninsured patients accounted for 30 percent of ambulatory care visits and 19 percent of inpatient services.
The 52-page report was developed by the National Public Health and Hospital Institute (NAPH’s research affiliate) based on an annual NAPH member survey. It underscores the importance of Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments and other government support to safety net hospitals. The average margin for NAPH hospitals was 2.3 percent in 2010 compared with 7.2 percent for all hospitals nationwide. Without Medicaid DSH, the report noted, NAPH member hospitals would have suffered a 6.1 percent loss. Without DSH and other supplemental Medicaid payments, the loss would have increased to 10.6 percent.
In other survey findings for 2010:
- On average, NAPH members reported almost three times the volume of inpatient admissions seen in other acute care hospitals and exceeded average admissions within their markets by 44 percent.
- NAPH members provided nearly $128 billion in total inpatient and outpatient services, nearly half of which was for low-income patients.
The full report and an executive summary are available as complimentary downloads at http://www.naph.org/Main-Menu-Category/Publications/Safety-Net-Financing.aspx. The report provides data on other areas of safety net hospital expertise, including community health services and emergency preparedness.