Research Alert: March 11, 2016

Geographic Variation in the Profitability of Urban and Rural Hospitals

Between January 2010 and January 2016, 66 rural hospitals have closed, a majority of them in the South. Understanding where some hospitals are succeeding, compared to those that are not, is important as policy makers try to craft sustainable models of health care for rural areas. To help policy makers, researchers, and communities understand which hospitals are likely to be less profitable, the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program's brief, Geographic Variation in the Profitability of Urban and Rural Hospitals, describes the current geographic variability of hospital profitability by comparing the 2014 profitability of CAHs, other rural hospitals (Medicare Dependent Hospitals, Sole Community Hospitals, and rural PPS hospitals, denoted as "ORHs") and urban hospitals by census region, census division, and state.

See also:
2012-14 Profitability of Urban and Rural Hospitals by Medicare Payment Classification

Additional Resources of Interest:

• More information about the North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
• More information from the Rural Health Information Hub's topic guides: Critical Access Hospitals, Hospitals, Rural Health Clinics