Practically half (47%) of metropolitan areas throughout the nation had just one or two hospitals or well being methods offering normal inpatient hospital care in 2022, a new KFF analysis finds.
The evaluation examines the extent of competitors amongst hospitals amid a wave of hospital consolidation that has drawn the eye of state and federal regulators. About one in 5 (19%) metropolitan statistical areas have just one hospital or well being system offering hospital care, and greater than 1 / 4 (27%) are managed by two hospitals or methods.
In a big majority of metro areas (82%), one or two hospitals or well being methods had been answerable for a minimum of three quarters of all inpatient hospital discharges of their space, thereby assembly the definition for extremely concentrated markets primarily based on present federal antitrust pointers.
The variety of hospitals or well being methods in a metro space tends to extend with the inhabitants of the area, with a big majority of smallest metro areas (lower than 200,000 residents) having just one or two hospitals or well being methods offering inpatient hospital care, whereas practically the entire largest areas (a minimum of a million individuals) having a minimum of 4 hospitals or well being methods.
Different findings embrace:
- Practically all (97%) metropolitan areas had extremely concentrated markets for inpatient hospital care in 2022 primarily based on the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, which takes into consideration the market shares of the members in a given market. The Federal Commerce Fee and Division of Justice embrace this measure of competitiveness of their present pointers for evaluating mergers between hospitals or well being methods
- Two thirds (67%) of hospitals nationwide had been affiliated with well being methods in 2022, up from 56% in 2010. The rise in affiliated hospitals affected each rural and nonrural areas, although practically half (48%) of hospitals in rural areas stay unaffiliated with bigger well being methods.
