Rural hospitals may face financial crisis nationwide, study says

Salisbury, Md. – A new analysis reveals about one third of all rural hospitals nationwide are at risk of closure.

The analysis by the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform says facilities with the greatest risk have more debt than assets or lack the financial reserves necessary to offset losses on patient services. Rural healthcare expert and CEO of MedEvolve Matt Seefeld says rural hospitals are the most at risk because they often have to write off the services provided, something bigger, wealthier hospitals in more urban areas have less trouble dealing with.

“You have physicians saying, hey, ‘I can’t even do this on my own anymore, I gotta go move back to the big city so I can at least, you know, pay the bills,'” Seefeld said. ” He said patients need to know how to advocate for themselves and understand their billing and the services being provided.

Seefeld says officials will have to consider the revenue and cost of care in years to come.