Recognition of the Issue of Low Volume (2)
From detailed study of the finances of Kansas hospitals, published in 1990 (1983-87 data):
- “... financial viability is primarily a function of hospital size, which serves to make rural hospitals especially vulnerable to the potentially risky environments created by PPS.”
- “Smaller hospitals, and more specifically the very small hospitals, are almost always unable to make a profit without non-operating contributions.”
- Davis, et al., 1990
From an analysis of winners and losers in Medicare PPS, published in 1994:
- “Compared with urban hospitals, rural hospitals were more limited in their options for increasing volume, particularly in the face of stagnant or declining local populations and economies rendering communities less attractive to potential new recruits.”
- Bray, et al., 1994
Rural Policy Research Center 11/8/99