The Strata Performance Trends report combines financial, operational, and claims data from hospitals, health systems, and other healthcare organizations across the country.
Key findings from our Q1 2025 report include:
- Medical supply and drug expenses saw steady growth over the past two years, and that growth could accelerate due to the impacts of tariffs on imports.
- Medicaid accounts for more than 12% of revenue for most hospitals nationwide, with percentages ranging from 11.1% for hospitals in the Midwest to 14.4% for those in the West.
- U.S. health systems saw growth in charity and bad debt deductions in recent years, including a more than 20% increase in charity deductions from Q1 2023 to Q1 2025.
- Operating margins for U.S. health systems narrowed slightly to 0.9% in March, falling below 1% for the first time in 15 months after holding steady at 1% for both January and February.
- Patient demand was up nationwide across most metrics in March, following decreases in February, as growth in outpatient visits outpaced inpatient admissions.