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Editor’s Note: The statistical information that follows was compiled by AHA senior vice president Paul Cunningham, based on information from the American Hospital Association and other sources.

Arkansas Community Hospital Financial Indicators
Year Total Inpatient Charges Total Outpatient Charges Patient Charges Uncollected Bad Debts Total Charity Care Provided Totally Uncollected Charges Total Payments Received Operating Costs
1986 1,194,963,109 213,310,932 1,408,274,041 99,454,411 19,867,102 320,716,376 1,087,557,665 1,101,235,640
1987 1,300,146,307 270,939,929 1,571,086,236 81,107,533 27,359,296 401,400,280 1,169,685,956 1,152,007,338
1988 1,491,360,279 340,378,548 1,831,738,827 98,109,823 37,827,847 524,215,948 1,307,522,879 1,277,295,461
1989 1,700,596,126 428,431,429 2,129,027,555 117,482,546 42,116,634 665,232,712 1,463,794,843 1,478,566,201
1990 2,041,275,640 548,258,433 2,589,534,073 125,031,048 61,275,220 898,904,774 1,690,629,299 1,685,046,599
1991 2,307,622,750 682,801,370 2,990,424,120 163,592,104 76,279,409 1,123,331,907 1,867,092,213 1,825,573,820
1992 2,551,582,773 862,633,587 3,414,216,360 184,749,580 71,188,541 1,313,426,376 2,100,789,984 2,078,393,611
1993 2,722,861,890 1,018,020,045 3,740,881,935 212,858,139 82,595,281 1,494,233,248 2,246,648,687 2,229,491,032
1994 2,780,850,665 1,136,369,830 3,917,220,495 236,455,744 111,093,357 1,633,278,763 2,283,941,732 2,244,921,469
1995 2,931,380,789 1,333,350,521 4,264,731,310 245,897,568 117,503,190 1,896,870,528 2,367,860,782 2,304,500,580
1996 3,135,474,445 1,537,088,806 4,672,563,251 260,404,561 128,720,073 2,103,205,279 2,569,357,972 2,514,053,912
1997 3,292,550,631 1,723,174,525 5,015,725,156 283,840,657 139,408,747 2,302,373,072 2,713,352,084 2,583,850,005
1998 3,586,801,167 1,995,030,902 5,581,832,069 305,070,830 147,302,300 2,722,206,991 2,859,625,078 2,802,389,937
Total % Increase   835.3% 296.4% 206.7% 641.4% 748.8% 162.9% 154.5%

Source: American Hospital Association

The gap between charges for hospital services and actual payments received for the services has widened over the past dozen years. Gross patient revenues (the amount of billed charges for inpatient and outpatient services) rose from $1.4 billion in 1986 to $5.6 billion in 1998. That is an increase of almost 300% for the period. At the same time, net patient revenues ( payments for the services) rose only 162%. The gap between the two is referred to as unreimbursed care and is generally uncollectible by hospitals. The payment gap ballooned 748% between 1986 and 1998, rising from $320 million to $2.7 billion. On average, more than 45% of a typical hospital bill reflects costs for services provided to patients who can’t afford to pay either all or part of their bills. That increase in uncompensated care is expected to grow more rapidly in the coming five years.