Report: Pa. rehabilitation hospitals post gains

A new report says Pennsylvania's 19 freestanding rehabilitation hospitals, including several in Central Pennsylvania, posted gains last year.

The report is the last in a three-part series by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council. It says the hospitals had an average 3.76 percent increase in operating margin, from 10.37 percent in 2010 to 14.13 percent in 2011.

Statewide, the report said, rehabilitation patient days, beds and occupancy rates have all dropped significantly in the past decade. At rehabilitation hospitals alone, patient days dropped from 516,620 in 2002 to 403,160 in 2011.

In that same time, net patient revenue at rehab hospitals increased by $93 million to $649 million, while total operating expenses grew only $48 million to $597 million.

In just the past year, rehab hospitals’ net patient revenue increased 8.5 percent. The report pegs that growth to the state modernizing its Medicaid payment program in 2010 and a 4.6 percent increase in discharges paid for by Medicare.

The report also notes that modernization increases are partly offset by assessments the hospitals pay the state each year, which are not reflected in the net patient revenue figures.