CAH Financial Performance Indicators
All hospitals, regardless of size and organizational structure, benefit from comparative data on financial condition and performance. The unique reimbursement and organizational structure of critical access hospitals (CAHs) make it important to have financial indicators that capture their own circumstances for performance assessment. CAHs differ from urban and other rural hospitals that are paid under the Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS) in important aspects that affect the most appropriate way to measure financial condition. Unlike PPS hospitals, CAHs receive cost-based reimbursement for inpatient and outpatient care, and the incentives, financial management, and utilization practices under these two payment methods differ substantially. There are also organizational differences between CAHs and other hospitals that may affect financial performance.
As part of ongoing work of the Flex Monitoring Team, twenty financial indicators were specifically designed to capture the financial performance of CAHs. The creation of these indicators are based on three criteria: feasibility (whether the indicator can be accurately calculated from Medicare cost report data), importance (whether the indicator is an important measure of the financial management of CAHs), and usefulness (whether the indicator is useful to CAH administrators). The state graphs listed in the drop down box below present the 2005 financial indicator values of each CAH in that state. Individual hospitals are not identified. Each of the twenty indicators has its own graph and also includes the national and state median for comparison.
To see the indicators of a particular state, select the state from the drop down menu below.