This United Hospital Fund report finds that while academic medical centers (AMCs) have the best financial performance of any category of hospitals in New York City, they have significantly lower operating margins than AMCs in other states.
The report also found that New York City AMCs tend to have proportionately longer lengths of hospital stays, serve more Medicaid patients, provide fewer surgical admissions than their peers in other states, and operate in a more competitive marketplace.
The report compares data from four New York City-based AMCs to 17 AMCs across the country. The focus on AMCs is timely since New York City’s AMCs are growing in importance as other hospitals are seeking to merge or affiliate with them to ensure their own survival.