AHA Reports that Hospital Acuity Contributes to Rising Costs

Healthcare Finance

Consistent increases in hospital acuity over the past several years, in conjunction with inflation and staffing shortages, is a major contributing factor to rising costs of labor, drugs, and supplies, according to the AHA. Noting that both COVID and non-COVID hospital stays have increased in length by an average of 10%, including marked increases in stay length for rheumatoid arthritis (89%), appendectomy (15%), and neuroblastoma and adrenal cancer (65%), among other patient segments. This also factors into the larger trend of financial instability for many healthcare organizations and hospitals, as shown by the AHA’s ongoing request for relief funds in the tens of billions of dollars.