This week’s graphic uses health system size and performance data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to illustrate what it means to be an average health system. Overall, the median health system has two hospitals, 550 beds, 17.5K annual discharges, and $700M in net patient revenue. In 2022, more than one third of all health systems reported a net patient revenue of less than $500M, whereas less than 8% of health systems reported a net patient revenue greater than $5B. The median health system is therefore more similar to smaller systems than to their larger counterparts. For example, health systems in the 25th percentile operate one hospital while those above the 75th percentile operate at least six hospitals. As health system mergers remain challenging in the current regulatory environment, it is noteworthy that the health system sector remains significantly less concentrated than other sectors in healthcare, such as insurers.
