Hospital operating margins to stay depressed in 2023

Positive operating margins may be out of reach for many hospitals and health systems in 2023.

Health systems are working to reduce high contract labor costs while still managing staffing shortages. They are also absorbing increased expenses when payers’ reimbursements fail to keep up. If poor margins persist, some systems, particularly smaller organizations, may be forced to make big operational changes.

As of October, the median hospital…