Arkansas Hospitals: A Few Quick Facts

Arkansas hospitals are a major asset for the communities where they're located. They are likely to be the first place that area residents look to when they need care for illness or injury. These local hospitals are also an economic building block for their communities. Prospective businesses and industries consider a number of factors when deciding to locate in new areas. Three of the most important drawing cards are schools, churches and local hospitals.

Like the schools and churches, hospitals make those Arkansas communities better places to live. Leaders in towns and cities in the 20 Arkansas counties that don't have a hospital will attest that the peace of mind gained from knowing there is a place to obtain healthcare within a few miles of home, when and if it's needed, is a fringe benefit that not all places can offer. The fact that the local hospital in some cases could be the difference between life and death for employees and their families is an added bonus.

For most Arkansans, including natives and the transplanted variety, it is enough to know that their local hospital is there when they, their families or friends need the best healthcare available. But, most probably don't think much about what the hospital means to the community and the state in other ways, or the wide range of hospital services that are provided locally and across the state every day. They may not know how hard the people in all the state's hospitals continually work to improve their services and the pride they take in assuring the quality of care they give is the best it can be. Below are some facts about Arkansas hospitals that you may not know:

• Arkansas hospitals employ almost 48,000 people, ranking them among the state's largest employers. In many communities, the local hospital IS the largest employer. At least nine hospitals located in eight counties throughout Arkansas employ more than 1,000 people.
• Arkansas hospitals contributed almost $3 billion to the state's economy last year. Hospital payrolls surpassed $1.2 billion, and they spent another $1.75 billion purchasing equipment, goods and services from businesses in their local communities and across the state.
• Arkansas hospitals provided 2.2 million days of care to patients who were hospitalized last year and registered about 4 million visits to their outpatient departments and emergency rooms by patients needing care for a wide variety of illnesses and injuries.
• Arkansas hospitals continue to make more services available in outpatient settings. Over the past ten years, patient visits to hospital emergency rooms and outpatient departments climbed 82%. Thirty-six percent of all hospital charges in 1999 were for services provided in outpatient settings.
• Arkansas hospitals give back to their communities, providing community benefit programs under a "hospital without walls" concept. Arkansas hospitals' community outreach programs extend services into local businesses, schools, churches and community centers. They are partnering with local businesses to improve worker health and reduce missed workdays related to illness and injury. Programs are presented in local schools to teach kids about healthy lifestyles. And clinics are being set up in areas away from the hospital to take everything from healthcare services to healthy meals to individuals who wouldn't otherwise get them.
• The hospital part of patient bills for a hospital stay in Arkansas averaged $10,526 last year. That was 22% less than the average charge nationwide and 19% less than the average bill for hospitalized patients in the West South Central region of the U.S. Arkansas charges also average about 15.5% less than similar charges in its six surrounding states.
• Medicare and Medicaid account for 63% of all patient admissions to Arkansas hospitals and more than 70% of inpatient days of care provided in the state's hospitals.
• In 1999, Arkansas hospitals provided in excess of $500 million in services to patients who couldn't afford to pay their out-of-pocket bills and who had no other source of payment. That represents hospitals' charity care and bad debts that are written off as uncollectable charges.
• Nearly 52% of the average hospital bill in Arkansas reflects charges for services that go unpaid. These include services for patients whose healthcare is covered by Medicare, Medicaid and other government programs which don't reimburse the full cost of services; patients enrolled with health maintenance organizations and other managed care organizations which pay discounted rates for services they cover; and the growing number of uninsured and underinsured patients who receive hospital care, and who, at best, may be able to pay only a portion of their bills.
• An increasing number of Arkansas hospitals are facing serious financial pressures related to increasing costs and falling revenues. In spite of relief measures passed by Congress in 1999 and 2000, the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 will have removed up to $1 billion in Medicare payments alone from Arkansas hospitals between 1998 and 2002. Last year, operating costs exceeded all sources of revenue in more than 40% of the state's hospitals.

Arkansas Hospitals: Location, Classification, Beds, Special Units & Control
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