The study found that smaller hospitals performed better than large institutions in most clinical and financial elements. For the fourth consecutive year, the South leads the group with 43 percent of all benchmark hospitals located in this region. The West is the second best represented part of the country, with 18 percent of all benchmark hospitals located there. Once a hospital attains benchmark status, it tends to continue its solid performance. A full 63 percent of this year's benchmark hospitals have won this award at least once previously.
Benchmark hospitals do more with less.
On average they employ 18 percent fewer staff members per unit, have 22 percent higher occupancy, and are 38 percent more profitable than other hospitals in the study group. For complex cases, benchmark hospitals have an average length of stay that is 7 percent shorter than that of their peers. Health care costs are heading up, and Medicare payments are being reduced. These hospitals have superior management teams that thrive on adversity and make their organizations function on all cylinders. The HCIA-Mercer study is based solely on objective, quantitative data that are consistent and complete across the United States.