Source: Moody's: Hospital Revenues In Critical Condition; Downgrades May Follow
Top-line revenue growth is falling at many not-for-profit hospitals, presenting hospital management teams with their most immediate challenge and supporting our negative outlook for the sector. Hospital downgrades will likely increase in the short term unless expense reductions and productivity gains compensate for stagnant or weak revenue growth. With hospitals facing reimbursement pressure from all payers – Medicare, Medicaid and commercial health insurers – and declining volumes given a persistently sluggish economy, numerous hospitals are reviewing every aspect of their operations to make fundamental changes to their business model. These efforts will stave off rating downgrades at better managed hospitals, but will likely prove insufficient at others to stave off credit deterioration over the longer-term.
No comments:
Post a Comment