How are Tennessee hospitals doing financially?

55 of 114 Tennessee hospitals (48%) reported a loss on patient care in their latest full-year Medicare cost report, compared with 55% nationwide. The median operating margin was 1.5%, higher than the U.S. median of -1.6%. The operating margin leaves out donations, investment income and grants, so some of these hospitals still end the year in the black.

Tennessee hospitals reported $948.4 million in charity care (the cost of free or discounted care for patients who qualify) in their latest full-year reports. The largest amounts came from Vanderbilt University Hospital ($138.3 million), Erlanger Medical Center ($64.3 million), Regional One Health ($59.1 million), University of Tn Memorial Hospital ($47.0 million), St Thomas Hospital ($42.5 million).

Tennessee ranks 14 of 50 states by the median operating margin of its hospitals (1 = highest). A smaller share of its hospitals lost money on patient care than the U.S. as a whole (48% vs 55%).

Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville reported the most net patient revenue: $6.9 billion in its latest full-year cost report, with 1,129 beds and an operating margin of -11.8%.

It is how much a hospital keeps from patient care after paying its operating costs, as a share of its patient revenue. A margin of 5% means the hospital kept 5 cents of every dollar it earned from patients; a negative margin means patient care cost more than it brought in. It excludes donations, investment income and grants.