Hospitals Industry Profile

Companies in this industry provide medical, diagnostic, and treatment services to people on an inpatient and outpatient basis at specialized medical, surgery, emergency, and other health care facilities. Major companies include Community Health Systems (CHS), HCA Healthcare, and Tenet Healthcare (all based in the US), as well as Apollo Hospitals (India), Fraser Health (Canada), and Ramsay Health Care (Australia).

The world has about 40,000 hospitals, primarily located in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Among countries tracked by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), South Korea, Japan, Australia, Finland, and France have the most hospitals per 1 million people.

The US hospitals industry has about 7,100 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with combined annual revenue of about $1.2 trillion.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Hospitals are under extreme pressure to lower costs while improving quality of care. Government payers and insurers are nudging patients toward less-costly outpatient care, reducing the number of routine inpatient procedures conducted at hospitals. The trend is encouraged by advances in medical technologies that improve recovery times. As reimbursements shift toward pay-for-performance protocols and away from procedure-based payments, hospitals may be rewarded or penalized based on quality and efficiency standards, such as reducing repetitive ER visits and hospitalizations. Eliminating wasteful processes is essential, as operating margins are slim, and the ability to raise prices is limited.

In urban and suburban areas where multiple hospital systems are present, ...