News: Outpatient revenue competes with inpatient, report shows

A report from the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions found that hospital outpatient revenue is beginning to rival inpatient revenue. The report looked at financial data from Medicare-certified organizations between 2011 and 2018 and showed outpatient revenue grew at a rate of 9% while inpatient revenue grew by 6%. The report also found that the aggregate outpatient share of total hospital revenue grew from 28% in 1994 up to 48% in 2018.

Authors note that “much of this past shift is due to technological advances in clinical care delivery. Moreover, technologies like digital consumer apps, predictive analytics, and virtual health are accelerating it further today and are expected to continue to do so in the next few years.”

While some health systems were found to be reactive and rely heavily on inpatient visits, are intentionally growing their capacity for outpatient and home settings, which makes the latter group likely better positioned to “shift away from inpatient hospital services and be prepared to deliver care in the future of health,” according to the report.

Editor’s note: The Deloitte Center for Health Solutions report can be found here.